Preliminary Energy Budget for a Salt Marsh in the Cape Fear River Estuary, North Carolina

摘要

A band of salt marshes dominated by the cordgrass Spartina alterniflora extends along much of the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States. In order to examine more closely the exchange of material between the emergent marsh and the estuary in North Carolina, an energy budget was constructed for the emergent marsh at Walden Creek, part of the Cape Fear River Estuary system. This budget is a synthesis of measurements of the major pathways of energy flow through this site and adjacent sites plus values drawn from the literature to estimate the pathways which were not measured. This energy budget is compared with those developed for other marsh systems and some of the factors affecting the form and amount of export of carbon to the Cape Fear River Estuary ecosystem is discussed.