Pomeroy: I took it to the laboratory, filtered it and boiled it. 



Burkholder: And that removes the CO^ so your CO^ supply comes from the 

 mud then. 



Pomeroy: Well, 1 reaerate the water partially. 1 try to keep the gasses 



intermediate in there so 1 can get a good change of oxygen 

 without super saturation, but it is partially reaerated. 



Burkholder: Do you think that the CO^ might be limiting and regulated by 



the microorganisms in the mud through the different seasons ? 



Pomeroy: Well, I do not know, I think that is possible. 



Burkholder: There is respiration in the mud here. We tried to measure it. 

 It is pretty low unless it is refortified from some source and 

 the photosynthetic products I presume are not diffusing very 

 rapidly from the algae into the mud, so one wonders about this 

 complex relationship between the known photosynthetic micro- 

 organisms mixed in with the photosynthesizer s . 



Pomeroy: That is a very interesting question. 



Burkholder: I think there is a problem that deserves attention. 



Pomeroy: It certainly does. 



Odum: Could the winter decomposition of your grass be considered as 



releasing nutrients whereas in the summer the grass is com- 

 peting with the mud algae ? 



Pomeroy: As you know, I have been making some starts on a study of the 



phosphorous cycle out there and I find a maximum of both total 

 phosphorous and phosphate in these marsh creeks in August, 

 and in the winter it is about a four to one change. 



Odum: How about the mud ? 



Pomeroy: I haven't measured them in mud yet. I cannot tell you. 



Odum: Is your winter respiration that you said was high, unexplainably 



so ? 



Pomeroy: As far as I am concerned it is unexplainable . 



Odum: Is that a function of a greater number of diatoms in the mud? 



Pomeroy: I haven't been making any measurements of population density 



that I am satisfied with. I have not tried cell counts, although 



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