Discussion Session 7:

A Theory for Salt-marsh Evolution (Due April 27th)

In this exercise I want class members to investigate what happens to marshes as they age. How does a) the landscape (intertidal and subtidal) change, b) what is the change in community structure (animals and / or plants), and c) what happens to important ecosytem functions such as primary production and nutrient remineralization.

In order to answer this question I want you to combine information from 3 resources including;

1) The paper by Dame et al. 1992 indicated below.

Dame, R., D.L.Childers, and E.T.Koepfler (1992). A geohydrologic continuum theory for the spatial and temporal evolution of marsh-estuarine ecosystems. Neth. J. Sea Res. 30: 63-72.

2) A recent paper (1996 or later) dealing with your topic.

Please respond by posting to the eBoard demonstrating the use of information from the 2 resources above by Tuesday April 27th - prior to class.  To reduce the redundancy of topics to be covered by individuals please pursue these as your topics based upon the first letter of your last name.

For individuals with last names starting with the letters A - G, a above

For individuals with last names starting with the letters H - M, b above

For individuals with last names starting with the letters N - Z, c above

Good luck!

ETK