The Ecology of a Salt Marsh

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Ecosystem Structure and Function

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Ecology of Salt Marshes: An Introduction

      • R. G. Wiegert, L. R. Pomeroy, W. J. Wiebe

      Pages 3-19

   3. The Physical and Chemical Environment

      • L. R. Pomeroy, J. Imberger

      Pages 21-36

3. Salt-Marsh Populations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37

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   2. Primary Production

      • L. R. Pomeroy, W. M. Darley, E. L. Dunn, J. L. Gallagher, E. B. Haines, D. M. Whitney

      Pages 39-67

   3. Aquatic Macroconsumers

      • C. L. Montague, S. M. Bunker, E. B. Haines, M. L. Pace, R. L. Wetzel

      Pages 69-85

   4. Grazers on Spartina and Their Predators

      • W. J. Pfeiffer, R. G. Wiegert

      Pages 87-112

   5. Aerobic Microbes and Meiofauna

      • R. R. Christian, R. B. Hanson, J. R. Hall, W. J. Wiebe

      Pages 113-135

   6. Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation

      • W. J. Wiebe, R. R. Christian, J. A. Hansen, G. King, B. Sherr, G. Skyring

      Pages 137-159

4. The Salt-Marsh Ecosystem

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 161-161

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   2. The Cycles of Nitrogen and Phosphorus

      • D. M. Whitney, A. G. Chalmers, E. B. Haines, R. B. Hanson, L. R. Pomeroy, B. Sherr

      Pages 163-181

   3. A Model View of the Marsh

      • R. G. Wiegert, R. R. Christian, R. L. Wetzel

      Pages 183-218

   4. The Salt-Marsh Ecosystem: A Synthesis

      • R. G. Wiegert, L. R. Pomeroy

      Pages 219-230

5. Back Matter

   Pages 231-271

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Ecologists have two long-standing ways to study large ecosystems such as lakes, forests, and salt-marsh estuaries. In the first, which G. E. Hutchinson has called the holological approach, the whole ecosystem is first studied as a "black box," and its components are investigated as needed. In the second, which Hutchinson has called the merological approach, the parts of the system are studied first, and an attempt is then made to build up the whole from them. For long-term studies, the holological approach has special advantages, since the general patterns and tentative hypotheses that are first worked out help direct attention to the components of the system which need to be studied in greater detail. In this approach, teams of investigators focus on major func­ tions and hypotheses and thereby coordinate their independent study efforts. Thus, although there have been waves, as it were, of investigators and graduate students working on different aspects of the Georgia salt-marsh estuaries (personnel at the Marine Institute on Sapelo Island changes every few years), the emphasis on the holo­ logical approach has resulted in a highly differentiated and well-coordinated long-term study. Very briefly, the history of the salt-marsh studies can be outlined as follows. First, the general patterns of food chains and other energy flows in the marshes and creeks were worked out, and the nature of imports and exports to and from the system and its subsystems were delimited.

• Ecosystems
• Salt
• Sapelo Island /Geographie
• chemistry
• ecology
• ecosystem
• environment
• fauna
• forest
• geomorphology
• landscape ecology
• microbes
• nitrogen
• phytoplankton
• plankton

• Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

  Lawrence R. Pomeroy, Richard G. Wiegert

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