CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

SPARTINA ALTERNIFLORA: ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS AND NUTRIENTS CONTRIBUTION WITHIN A SALT MARSH FROM BAHIA BLANCA ESTUARY Negrin, V. 1, de Villalobos, A. 2 y Marcovecchio J.1,3,4 1Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO-CONICET), B.Bca., e-mail:vlnegrin@criba.edu.ar; 2 Dpto.de Biología, Bioqca. y Farmacia (UNS); 3 UTN-FRBB ;4 Univ. FASTA. Vegetation plays an important role in the cycling of nutrients in salt marshes, and that depends in part on its biomass production. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the production of aboveground biomass of Spartina alterniflora Loisel and its input of nitrogen and phosphorus to the system. The aboveground biomass was estimated in two zones in a salt marsh from the estuary: one occasionally flooded (OF) and another usually flooded (UF). The concentration of N and P in the tissues was also analyzed. The average aboveground accumulated biomass for the whole year was significantly greater in the OF (1496,1±51,8 g m-2) than in the UF (351±15,4 g m-2). The ratio live/dead was significantly greater for the UF; that would indicate a greater loss of dead tissues in the UF. No differences were found, in average for the whole year, between both sites in the concentration of N and P. These results suggest a major input of the nutrients to the salt marsh by the OF, due to its greater biomass production.

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