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Experimental manipulation of nutrients and water in a freshwater marsh: Effects on biomass, decomposition, and nutrient accumulation
Author(s) -
Bayley Suzanne E.,
Zoltek John,
Hermann Albert J.,
Dolan Thomas J.,
Tortora Louis
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1985.30.3.0500
Subject(s) - effluent , marsh , nutrient , peat , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , phosphorus , substrate (aquarium) , wetland , agronomy , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , chemistry , biology , environmental engineering , geology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Experimental freshwater marsh plots (2,000 m 2 ) received 9.6, 3.7, and 1.5 cm wk −1 of treated sewage effluent and the control plot received 4.4 cm wk −1 potable water during a 2‐year study. Surface water elevation above the peat substrate averaged 0.2 m in the second year. During the first year the marsh surface remained dry. Application of treated effluent increased net primary production only during the dry year. During the wet year there was no significant difference between the highest effluent plot and the control plot in aboveground biomass, or in phosphorus content in the aboveground live or dead vegetation and in the belowground vegetation. Based on the 2 years of the study, a natural increase in water level above the marsh surface had the same effect on the marsh production and nutrient accumulation as did application of 42 g P m −2 yr −1 in treated effluent. This was presumably due to the release of P from the peat substrate under flooded conditions.