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Biol. Bull. 207: 174. (October 2004)
© 2004 Marine Biological Laboratory

Abstract

Effect of Nutrient Enrichment and Salinity on Salt Marsh Invertebrates in the Plum Island Estuary

Jenn Kerry1, Dorothy Boorse1 and Robert Buchsbaum2

1 Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts
2 Massachusetts Audubon Society, Wenham, Massachusetts

Nutrient enrichment of tidal marshes accompanies landscape development and urbanization. Such enrichment can alter tidal marsh communities. As part of the Plum Island Long Term Ecological Research project, we investigated the impact of a sewage outfall in Greenwood Creek marsh, Ipswich, Massachusetts, on litter-inhabiting macroinvertebrates. Because the sewage outfall also introduced fresh water to the Greenwood marsh, we compared it to two reference marsh systems: one brackish and one marine. Mesh litterbags were filled with Spartina patens litter and placed in three vegetation zones [high marsh (Spartina patens), low marsh (Spartina alterniflora), and upland edge vegetation]. The stands of edge vegetation were of two types: Typha angustifolia in the brackish marsh and Phragmites australis in the sewage outfall marsh. Bags were incubated in each marsh system during two different two-week intervals, and after each interval, we collected and counted the invertebrates that had entered. We also compared the invertebrates caught in two types of litterbags (cloth and plastic mesh).

There were more individuals and more taxa in the brackish reference marsh than in the sewage outfall marsh, both of which had more individuals and taxa than the marine marsh. Greenwood Creek marsh had the highest nitrogen load of the three marshes, but the average salinity on the marsh was similar to the marine marsh. Fauna colonizing litterbags may be negatively affected by high salinity. This may have offset the expected increase in invertebrates due to nutrient loading in the Greenwood Creek marsh.

There were lower abundances of individuals in the P. australis edge vegetation zone than in any other vegetation zone, but there was no effect of vegetation on taxonomic richness. More individuals were collected during the second two-week experiment.

In the comparison between litterbag types, abundances of individuals and taxonomic richness were higher in the cloth mesh bags than in the plastic mesh bags. The plastic mesh bags had slightly smaller openings, and a large area was covered by a label through which fauna could not pass.

This work was supported by an NSF-REU (OCE 9726921). We are indebted to Kelsey Correa for field assistance and to the TIDE (NSF DEB 0213767) project for equipment.





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