The interface between land and water is often a dynamic zone that responds to
relatively short-term climatic and hydrologic forces. Coastal salt marshes occupy this
zone between land and sea and typically are comprised of vegetated marsh intersected by
channels and shallow ponds that are subject to flooding by winds, tides, and storm
surges. Coastal salt marshes are widely regarded as zones of high macrophyte
productivity. However, microalgae may contribute more to salt marsh productivity than
previously realized, underscoring the importance of understanding algal dynamics in
such systems. Benthic and planktonic chlorophyll-a (surrogate for total algal biomass),
sediment AFDW, total suspended solids, salinity, and nutrients were examined in marsh
ponds in the subtropical Guadalupe Estuary, TX, USA to determine the effects of
hydrologic connections on algal biomass in this system. From May 2005 – May 2006
there were several pond connection, disconnection, and desiccation events. During
periods of disconnection, algal biomass was higher in both the benthos and the water
column than during connection events when supposed flushing occurred. Connection
events also flushed out high NH4 accumulating in pond surface waters, but did not increase NOx. Therefore, the primary source of DIN seemed to be nutrient cycling
within the ponds. There was a temporal effect on surface water salinity, which increased
throughout the sampling period as bay water levels and subsequent pond connections
decreased, demonstrating interannual variability and the link between seasons (wet vs.
dry) and marsh inundation patterns (high water periods vs. low water periods) in this
estuary.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1392 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Miller, Carrie J. |
| Contributors | Davis, Stephen E., Roelke, Daniel L. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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