Abstract
Macrophytes drive the functioning of many salt marsh ecosystem components. We questioned how temporary clearing of the macrophyte community, during restoration, would impact processes at the scale of the aquatic surface microlayer. Development, deposition, and breakup of the tidal creek surface microlayer were followed over tidal cycles seasonally in a cleared “former” Phragmites marsh and an adjacent restored Spartina marsh. Metabolic and physical processes of the mobile surface microlayers and underlying water were compared, along with distribution of organic and inorganic components onto simulated plant stems. In July and October, chlorophyll-a quantities were less on simulated stems in the cleared site than in the restored site. The aquatic microlayer in the cleared site creek exhibited lower photosynthesis and respiration rates, fewer diatoms and green algae, and less chlorophyll-a. There was a lower concentration (250 times) and reduced diversity of fatty acids in the surface microlayer of the cleared site, reflecting a smaller and less diverse microbial community and reduced food resources. Fiddler crab activity was an order of magnitude higher where macrophytes had been cleared. Their consumption of edaphic algae on the mud surface may account for the reduced algae and other organics in the creek surface microlayer, thus representing a redirection of this food resource from creek consumers. Overall, there were less total particulates in the creek surface microlayer at the cleared site, and they dropped out of the surface microlayer sooner in the tidal cycle, resulting in a lower sediment load available for deposit onto marsh surfaces.
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Acknowledgments
Funds for this research were provided by Grant #G97-13 from the Marsh Ecology Research Program, which was administered by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and sponsored by Public Service Electric & Gas Company and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program. The authors are grateful to Wendy Carey especially, and to Divakar Rao, Cecelia Linder, and Tamara Saltman from the University of Delaware who participated in sample and data collection, and Karen Dohrman from Microbial ID, Inc. for fatty acid analyses.
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Communicated by Craig Osenberg.
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Seliskar, D.M., Gallagher, J.L. Macrophyte disturbance alters aquatic surface microlayer structure, metabolism, and fate. Oecologia 174, 1007–1020 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2796-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2796-3