INTRODUCTION 



This conference had its inception some eighteen months 

 ago at a meeting of the American Society of Limnology and Ocean- 

 ography, where it was learned through Dr. Sprugel that the 

 National Science Foundation was interested in encouraging meet- 

 ings of limited groups of people to discuss specialized subjects, 

 especially those which cut across the boundaries which conven- 

 tionally separate the several scientific disciplines. It seemed 

 to some of us that the study of salt marshes was an admirable 

 subject for such a conference. 



The study of salt marshes is clearly an interdisciplinary 

 subject which has been pursued by geologists, hydrographers, 

 botanists and zoologists, each working frequently without full 

 awareness of what the other might contribute . The problem pre- 

 sented by salt marshes is analogous to that of coral reefs, and 

 to mymind is just about as interesting. In both cases distinctive 

 land forms have been produced by a combination of geological 

 processes and biological activities working under the control of 

 changing sea levels. There are, I suppose, a dozen books and 

 monographs about coral reefs. To the best of my knowledge Dr. 

 Chapman's forthcoming book on the salt marshes of the world 

 will be the first monographic treatment of our subject. 



I think that what we may hope to accomplish at this meeting 

 is to advance the recognition of salt marshes as a coherent sub- 

 ject for general scientific study, and to make it clear to one an- 

 other what each discipline can contribute to an understanding of 

 the phenomena as a whole. 



We are here as the result of the generous support of the 

 National Science Foundation and are indebted to the staff of the 

 Marine Institute of the University of Georgia for arranging the 

 details of the meeting. Our thanks are due to the Marine Insti- 

 tute and to Mr. Richard J. Reynolds, Jr., for the pleasant hos- 

 pitality we enjoy. 



Alfred C. Redfield 



I 



