Distributions and Budgets of Carbon, Phosphorus, Iron and Manganese in a Floodplain Swamp Ecosystem

摘要

A freshwater floodplain swamp ecosystem, Creeping Swamp, on the lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina was the site of intensive, coordinated studies of system structure and functioning focused on organic carbon and phosphorus. The swamp, usually flooded in winter and early spring by darkly-colored water low in conductivity, pH, and plant nutrients, supports a typical deciduous hardwood bottomland forest. The investigations emphasized field measurements of the major compartments and of the dominant fluxes between these compartments in the natural swamp for two years. In addition the fluxes of carbon and phosphorus into and out of the swamp ecosystem were determined and material budgets were constructed. The abundances of iron and manganese in several physical and chemical forms in water and soils were also measured.