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VARYING LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE AND POTENTIAL DENITRIFICATION ACTIVITY AMONG SALT MARSHES ALONG AN ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCE GRADIENT
Citation:
Wigand, C, R A. McKinney, M Chintala, AND G B. Thursby. VARYING LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE AND POTENTIAL DENITRIFICATION ACTIVITY AMONG SALT MARSHES ALONG AN ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCE GRADIENT. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation 16th Biennial Conference, St. Peterburg, FL, November 4-8, 2001.
Description:
Marsh landscape structure and denitrification are proposed as indicators of key wetland services, providing animal habitat and water quality maintenance, respectively. We examined marsh landscape structure (i.e., plant species richness and extent of dominant plant species) and potential denitrification in ten marshes in Narragansett Bay, (RI). Land use patterns and nitrogen loadings along with physical attributes (e.g., marsh slope) were correlated with marsh landscape structure and denitrification enzyme activity. Plant species richness, extent of dominant plant species, and Fall high marsh denitrification activity were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with estimated nitrogen loadings. Percent residential development and marsh slope significantly covaried with nitrogen loadings and also influenced marsh responses. Calculations of nitrogen load transformation by potential denitrification rates suggest that salt marshes with the lowest loadings and greatest areal extent of marsh had the capacity to process much more than 100 percent of the estimated nitrogen loads. In contrast, the marshes with high percent residential development, high nitrogen loads, and small marsh area were not capable of processing the estimated nitrogen loads. These results provide managers and restoration specialists with possible indicators which may help evaluate marsh function and the capacity of marshes to provide key wetland services.