Salt marsh litter and detritivores: A closer look at redundancy |
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| Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Martin?ZimmerEmail author Steven?C?Pennings Tracy?L?Buck Thomas?H?Carefoot |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA;(2) Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD 20688, USA |
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| Abstract: | Most primary production of angiosperms in coastal salt marshes enters the detritivore food web; studies of this link have
predominantly focused on one plant species (Spartina alterniflora) and one detritivore species (Littoraria irrorata). In mesocosm experiments, we studied the rates and pattern of decomposition of litter derived from four plant species common
in southeastern United States coastal salt marshes and marsh-fringing terrestrial habitats. Crustanceans and gastropods were
selected as detritivores feeding on, and affecting degradation of, the litter of two monocotyledons and two dicotyledons.
Despite interspecific similarities in consumption, detritivores exhibited species-specific effects on litter chemistry and
on the activity of litter-colonizing microbiota. The chemical composition of feces depended upon both the litter type and
the detritivores’ species-specific digestive capabilities. Growth rates and survival of detritivores differed among litter
species. Different salt marsh detritivores are likely to have different effects on decomposition processes in the salt marsh
and cannot be regarded as functionally redundant nor can the litter of different plant species be regard ed as redundant as
food for marsh detritivores. |
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