Vegetative Delineation of Coastal Salt Marsh Boundaries

Authors

H. Peter Eilers, California State University - Fullerton
Alan Taylor, Oregon State University
William Sanville, United States Environmental Protection Agency

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1982

Comments

Published in TRANSACTIONS OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE AND NATURAL RESOURCES CONFERENCE, ed. Kenneth Sabol (Washington, DC, 1982).

Abstract

Two decades of intensive research following the suggestions of Odum (1961) and the work of Teal (1962) have firmly established positive values for undisturbed coastal salt marshes. These intertidal wetlands are noted for high macrophyte production and for export of energy-rich organic detritus and dissolved organic carbon to estuarine waters. They serve as juvenile fish and wildlife habitats, water purifiers, and buffers to erosion of sediment.