Accession Number : ADA055761

Title :   Underground Biomass Dynamics and Substrate Selective Properties of Atlantic Coastal Salt Marsh Plants.

Descriptive Note : Final rept.,

Corporate Author : GEORGIA UNIV SAPELO ISLAND MARINE INST

Personal Author(s) : Gallagher,John L. ; Plumley,F. Gerald ; Wolf,Paul L.

Report Date : DEC 1977

Pagination or Media Count : 172

Abstract : An intensive study was made of the dynamics of the underground portion of selected salt marsh plants along the U. S. Atlantic Coast. The plants studied included: Borrichia frutescens, Carex paleacea, Distichlis spicata, Eleocharis obtusa, Juncus gerardi J. roemerianus, Phragmites communis, Salicornia virginica, Spartina alterniflora, S. bakeri, S. cynosuroides, S. patens, and Sporobolus virginicus. The study provides information applicable to marsh development on dredged material, particularly methodologies that can be used for determining which marsh plants will be likely to do well on various kinds of dredged material and when a marsh, which has been established on dredged material, approaches natural conditions. The overall study focuses on: an investigation of underground biomass dynamics; characterization of soils supporting the salt marsh plants; and experimentation on the substrate selective properties of several of the marsh plants studied. The following topics are included: underground biomass profiles and dynamics in Atlantic coastal marshes; comparison of some tidal marsh soils along the Atlantic Coast; response of salt marsh plant stands to a pulse of ammonium nitrate; salt marsh plant growth on three types of dredged material; and a bioassay approach to studying marsh plant root growth in natural soil and dredged material.

Descriptors :   *DREDGED MATERIALS, *PLANTS(BOTANY), COASTAL REGIONS, SUBSTRATES, NUTRIENTS, SOILS, ECOSYSTEMS, ELEVATION, SALINITY, PH FACTOR, GEORGIA, BIOASSAY, BIODYNAMICS, GRASSES, TIDES, DELAWARE, AMMONIUM NITRATE, MAINE.

Subject Categories : BIOLOGY
      CIVIL ENGINEERING

Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Search DTIC's Public STINET for similiar documents.

Members of the public may purchase hardcopy documents from the National Technical Information Service.