. The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California : a national estuarine research reserve. Estuarine ecology -- California Tijuana River Estuary. 240 200 160 o) 120 80 40 o-. MARMAV JUL SEP NOV JANMARMAY JUL SEPNOV JANMARMAYJUL SEP I —1976 1 1977 —| 1?78— 1 Figure Seasonal dynamics of litter in the salt marsh of Tijuana Estuary. Vertical bars are ±.1 standard error, n = 25. Reprinted with permission from T. Winfield and mortality through time with differences in disappearance rates of species and plant parts shows high temporal variation in detritus production. Feeding and Growth Rates P
. The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California : a national estuarine research reserve. Estuarine ecology -- California Tijuana River Estuary. 240 200 160 o) 120 80 40 o-. MARMAV JUL SEP NOV JANMARMAY JUL SEPNOV JANMARMAYJUL SEP I —1976 1 1977 —| 1?78— 1 Figure Seasonal dynamics of litter in the salt marsh of Tijuana Estuary. Vertical bars are ±.1 standard error, n = 25. Reprinted with permission from T. Winfield and mortality through time with differences in disappearance rates of species and plant parts shows high temporal variation in detritus production. Feeding and Growth Rates Plant material produced by the salt marsh is used both directly (herbivory) and after fractionation to detrital particles (detri- tivory). We are virtually ignorant of the first process at Tijuana Estuary. But the abundance of insects found on various salt marsh plants insures that it is an important energy flow pathway (, outbreaks of Diptera on cordgrass documented by Covin 1984; Coleopteran damage on pickleweed documented by Beare and Beezley, both discussed in Section ). lated through May in 1976 but decreased through November in 1977. August values were high in 1976 (about 200 g/m2) and low in 1977-78 (100-130 g/m2). The proces- ses responsible for litter removal are likewise variable, and tracing the fate of plant losses is a complex problem. Casual obser- vations indicate that the coincidence of high tides and strong winds results in major transport of litter from the low marsh to the high tide line. Large wrack deposits are occasionally obvious, but there are many months when debris lines are hard to locate. Data on decomposition rates (Table ) show large differences between: species, leaves and stems, live and dead fractions, and locations of litter bags in the marsh. While litter bags were deployed in the marsh only during one year, other data indicate year-to- year differences in the availability of plant parts for various marsh species (Section ).
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