Premium
Sulfur and Carbon Isotopes as Tracers of Salt‐Marsh Organic Matter Flow
Author(s) -
Peterson Bruce J.,
Howarth Robert W.,
Garritt Robert H.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1939809
Subject(s) - spartina alterniflora , spartina , salt marsh , detritus , environmental chemistry , organic matter , sulfur , ecology , chemistry , environmental science , biology , marsh , wetland , organic chemistry
Stable isotopes of sulfur and carbon were used to trace the dominant flows of organic matter from producers to macroconsumers in Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh on Cape Cod. Spartina alterniflora and sulfur—oxidizing bacteria were found to assimilate isotopically light sulfides produced via sulfate reduction, and this light sulfur was detected in consumers. In contrast, phytoplankton and upland plants assimilate isotopically heavier SO 4 2 — with little or no fractionation. A dual—isotope approach using both ° 1 3 C and ° 3 4 S showed that Ilyanassa obsoleta and Fundulus heteroclitus depend very heavily on Spartina detritus, while filter feeders such as Crassostrea virginica and Geukensia demissa depend on a mixture of plankton and Spartina detritus. Spartina detritus and plankton were both shown to be much more important as organic matter sources for marsh macroconsumers than either sulfur—oxidizing bacteria or organic matter derived from terrestrial inputs.