Salt Marshes Under Siege

By Mark Bertness, et al
From the American Scientist, Volume 92
pages 54 – 61. January – February 2004

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 Directions
• Open the word file, Salt Marshes Under Siege.
• Refer to this paper and answer the questions provided in
this PowerPoint Presentation.
• The word document doesn’t have figures, they are
embedded in the PPP.
• To access the figures, refer to the directions on slide #3 of
this PPP. The questions begin on slide #4. The first few
words of the relevant paragraphs are at the top of each
slide.
• You’ll turn in your answers to me in class on 2/21/2009. No
late submissions please. Hard copies only. 30 points.

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 Salt Marshes Suffer from Human Activity (fig. 1)
To view the doc, depress the escape key and double click on
“pdf” symbol. Each time you see a pdf file, do the same thing.

Acrobat Document
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 “An attentive observer sees…”
• 1. What appears to be the dominate type of
plant(s) in a salt marsh?

4
 “A salt marsh develops when….”

• 2. In a New England salt marsh, four strips of

habitat usually occur in an undisturbed
community. What are they?
• A.
• B.
• C.
• D.

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New England Salt Marshes (fig. 2)

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 “Beyond beauty, salt marshes serve as….”
• 3. What are three benefits provided by
healthy salt marshes?

• A.
• B.
• C.

7
 “Today, these fertile ecosystems….”

• 3. What is the “trio of troubles” facing salt

marshes?

• A.
• B.
• C.

8
“Despite the ecological importance of salt marshes…”

• 4. In New England, how did the early colonist

use salt marshes?

9
Ditches Helped Colonial-Era Farmers (fig. 3)

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 “Evidence for the loss….”

• 5. Over the centuries, how much of the

southern New England salt marshes have
been lost?

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 “Even more trouble lies ahead…”

• 6. How might global warming contribute to

the decline of the salt marshes?

12
 “Global warming also causes thermal…”

• 7. What are three possible consequences of

global warming?
• A.
• B.
• C.

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 “Although global warming and a rising…”

• 8. What kept Phragmites out of the

marshes?

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Phragmites (reed) Dominates Some New England Salt
Marshes

Acrobat Document

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 “Then developers changed the character…”

• 9. How has the introduction of the reed,

Phragmites degraded the salt marshes?

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 “The reason for the shift…”

• 10. When nitrogen was no longer limiting, the

competitive balance shifted. What happen?

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 “In addition, the development-related….”

• 11. Why did the cordgrass move to higher

elevations thus displacing other grasses?

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 “A striking relationship exists….”
• 12. How is Phragmites distribution and
development correlated?

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 “Overall, local shoreline development …”

• 13. What has happen to plant diversity?

Which two plants make up the bulk of the
primary production?

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 “The Hudson Bay Lowland – one of…”

• 14. In the spring, what mid – continent birds

visit this region ( HBL)? Why are they there?

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Lesser Snow Geese Annually Migrate to Hudson Bay
Salt Marshes (fig. 5)

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 “Lesser snow geese can exert a strong….”

• 15. The lesser snow geese can make a very

positive impact on the marshes’ primary
productivity. How so?

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 “Three decades ago….”

• 16. Three decades ago, if an area of the

marsh was kept free of geese, what happen
to the community? Why?

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 “According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife….”

• 17. By what factor has the light geese

population changed?

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• 18. In the past what was the limiting factor
for the geese during the Winter?

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 “After a winter of good eating…”

• 19. Approximately how many square meters of

marsh can be removed by the goose population in
one hour?

• One km2 = (1000x1000)m2 = 1,000,000m2

• How many km2 of marsh is removed per hour?

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 “Damage also develops…”

• 20. Why do the geese eat the bases of the

sedges and discard the rest?

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 “The grazing causes a second positive…”

• 21. What are two physical changes to the

soil that are brought about by goose
grazing?

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Geese Can Turn Marshes to Mud Flats (fig. 6)

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 “Salty and anoxic soil prevents…”

• 22. Once the grasses and sedges are

removed by over–grazing, why is it difficult
for marshes to recover?

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 “Even if grazing presure were to…”

• 23.How has agricultural abundance located 5000

km to the south adversely affected Arctic
communities?

• .

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 “The geese of the Hudson Bay Lowlands…”

• 24. How have the geese challenged widely

held beliefs about the dynamics of salt marsh
ecosystems?

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 “For another example of consumer impact…”

• 25. In the marshes of Georgia and the Carolinas,

what plant is the predominant primary producer?

• According to Odum and Teal, how are these

marshes regulated?

• How is does Spartina’s energy and biomass enter

the food chain?

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 “On Sapelo Island and other marshes…”

• 26. In these marshes, what is one of the most

conspicuous and abundant invertebrates?

• How have ecologists long considered Littoraria’s

role in the marsh?

• Where is the greatest density of Littoraria found?

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Figure 7. Marsh snail makes its home in salt marshes
from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico

SMSiege pic7.pdf

Click Above

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 “Early marsh ecologists assumed…”

• 27. How does snail grazing lead to cordgrass

injury and death?

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Figure 8. Trophic Cascade Controls Salt Marsh

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 “Two of us (Silliman and Bertness)…”

• 28. What is the evidence cited that supports

Littoraria’s consumer impact on the marshes?
(two)

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 “Typically, other consumers…”

• 29. On the seaward side of the marsh, what

controls the snail population?

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 “These results suggest that a so-called…”

• 30. Describe the marsh’s “trophic cascade”.

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 “Sea otters of the Eastern Pacific…”

• 31. Describe the trophic cascade involving

Sea Otters.

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 “A similar relationship exists between…”

• 32. Why can blue crabs be considered a

“keystone species” in the salt marshes of the
Carolinas and Georgia?

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 “As these examples revel, salt marshes…”

• 33. Salt marshes along the Atlantic coast are

in peril. What must happen in order to save
them?

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