244 



inland or because the mid-river conununities (the tidal freshwater marshes) 

 were less resilient than the other community types? Because sea level rise 

 is a disturbance, the nature of each coastal ecosystem's response to 

 disturbance must be understood before predictions can be made regarding its 

 response to sea level rise. 



An important influence of sea level rise would be the introduction of 

 sulfur and its biogeochemical cycles into previously freshwater regions. 

 This is of particular relevance to microbial decomposition of organic 

 matter. Methanogenesis is a dominant pathway in freshwater and sulfate 

 reduction in salt water (Howes et al . , 1984; Capone and Kiene, 1988). 

 Sulfate reduction could lead to the loss of peat which had been deposited 

 while freshwater conditions prevailed. This would in turn lead to an 

 apparent increase in water level (sea level rise + compaction of peat due 

 to further decomposition) . The magnitude of this process and rate at which 

 it would occur are unknown and should be the subject of research in the 

 near future . 



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marine and freshwater sediments: contrasts in anaerobic carbon 



catabolism," Limnology and Oceanography, 33, 725-749. 

 Howes, B.L., J.W.H. Dacey, and G.M. King. 1984. "Carbon flow through 



oxygen and sulfate reduction pathways in salt marsh sediments," 



Limnology and Oceanography, 29, 1037-1051. 

 Jaap, W.C. 1984. "The ecology of the south Florida coral reefs: A 



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