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VEGETATION TYPE AND THE INTERTIDAL MACROINVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF A BRACKISH MARSH: PHRAGMITES VS. SPARTINA
Citation:
Angradi, T., S. M. Hagan, AND K. W. Able. VEGETATION TYPE AND THE INTERTIDAL MACROINVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF A BRACKISH MARSH: PHRAGMITES VS. SPARTINA. WETLANDS 21(1):75-92, (2001).
Description:
The responses of tidal marsh macroinvertebrate assemblages to the conversion of Spartina alterniflora marshes to marshes dominated by the invasive reed, Phragmites australis, are poorly understood. Changes in edaphic, vegetative, hydrological, and detrital conditions that attend conversion to Phragmites should produce changes in the intertidal fauna....Spatial variation in assemblage composition implicated density of intertidal standing-water microhabitats and microalgal productivity as important sources of faunal variation between marsh types. Detritus biomass was a source of small-scale spatial variation in the fauna of the Phragmites marsh but not the Spartina marsh.