Department of Biology, Camden, New
Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies Smithsonian Institution
Edgewater,
Biology Department, Rider College Lawrenceville, New
Technical Editor Crawford G. Ja($.slon, San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego, California
ACADEMIC PRESS New York San Francisco London 1978
A Subsidiarv of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
Freshwater Wetlands
Robert L. >JH,UI-'L'~H and Dennis
Biology Department Rider College
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648
and Walker
Biology Department Rutgers University Camden, New Jersey 08102
Abstract The distribution and movement of dissolved O2 , CO2 , N03-N, NH3-N and the surface waters of a freshwater tidal marsh were studied. Tidal action, particularly inundation and flushing, resulted in different patterns of nutrient distribution major wetland habitats. Inorganic Nand P04 -P were accumulated in the marsh during with emergent vegetation appearing to play an important role in the uptake and retention of nutrients. Although evidence is accumulating that some Nand P may be translocated belowground parts by several perennial macrophytes, most is rapidly leached after vascular plants with up to 80% of the total N and even more of the P lost within 1 pond-like areas where filamentous algal blooms develop following the fall dieback plants, inorganic Nand P04-P levels remain depressed through the winter and spring.
basis of presently available evidence, it appears almost all habitats of freshwater tidal may be sinks for inorganic Nand P04-P during the vascular plant growing season certain habitats may continually function as sinks.
Key words Carbon dioxide, decomposition, dissolved oxygen, emergent aquatic WI"frrl1nhllitp~
filamentous algae, freshwater tidal marsh, New Jersey, nitrogen, nutrient phosphorus, tide cycle.
1 Present address: Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies, Smithsonian tion, Route 4, Box 622, Edgewater, Maryland 21037.
Copyright © 1978 by Academic Press, Inc.
A It .. : .... h.tc> r..f r,cU ... n.rlllf'tir.n in !lnv form reserved.
KUIH:-K 1 L . .:slMP.sUN ET AL.
INTRODUCTION
limited data exist on nutrient movements in freshwater tidal marshes
"""",,1""'.'1"''' et al., 1977), but it has been suggested that these wetlands may
serve as sinks for certain nutrients, at least during part of the year (Good et al. , Grant and Patrick [1970] and Whigham and Simpson [1975, 1976a, The purpose of this paper is to consider recent studies on nutrient movements in the Hamilton Marsh complex (the northernmost freshwater tidal marsh on the Delaware River) and their relationship to the annual cycle of and decomposition known to occur in this and other New
freshwater tidal marshes.
The Hamilton Marshes occupy 500 ha of tidal and nontidalland along an old meander to the Delaware River near Trenton, New Jersey (Fig.
Four distinct habitats occur in the marsh: (1) streams and streambanks include Crosswicks the main stream through the wetland and its (2) areas that are continually covered with water
...,.a .. "H.""'hAA the flow direction reverses with the tide, (3) areas that are pond-like much of each and are drained only at low tide, and (4) high habitat in areal extent) that are covered by shallow water at tide only (Whigham and Simpson, 1976a).
The marsh is dominated by combinations of perennial (Nuphar advena,
~'l'"/I:'''''iWi salicaria, Sagitta ria latifolia, Typha latifolia,
glauca) and annual species (Bidens laevis, Polygonum arifolium, Polygonum sagit- Impatiens capensis) (Whigham and Simpson, biomass for 6 vegetation types ranged from 650 to
!'lVI"r!'l.[)"pn 950 g/m2 (Whigham and Simpson, 1976a). These
underestimate net annual community production because
hll1rh<:>ln11 et aL (1 have shown that high marsh vegetation produces in
g' m-2. . After the fall dieback, most of the marsh is
h " .. ".,., ... ,..,.,.""£"1 vascular but certain sections, notably the
areas, dense mats of filamentous The only major
u .... u n " . u ... "JU' .. UUlJ".. to the marsh comes from the 28.4 x 106litres of secondarily
cI" ... """i".c.r! effluent by the Hamilton Township Sewage Treat-
into Crosswicks Creek (Fig.
O.
METHODS
VU-j .... U . , J ... the year, water samples were
....,""'t.,AHUHJl5 in June 1974 at 4 stream sites (l, 2, 7,
1 pond-like site (4B), 1 pond site (4C), 2 the pond-like area and Crosswicks second draining an extensive high Sites 4 and 5 were on the tributary streams near their
"" .... ,' ... ,.,""""00'" to Crosswicks were collected at 2-week intervals
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN FRESHWATER TIDAL MARSHES 245 TRENTON
LEGEND
o
OPEN WATER® HIGH MARSH
o
POND-LIKE• POND UPLAND
® STUDY SITE
1 a
7
EFFlUENT~ SAH5
4C~4B~4A~4
KM DEl.
:2 :t
Fig. 1. Map of the Hamilton Marshes showing the major wetland habitats and study sites.
Tidal flow within the marsh is indicated by the diagram at the lower right of the map.
during the summer of 1974 and monthly thereafter at morning high slack water (hsw) and afternoon low slack water (lsw).
Based on the results of the 1974-75 study, investigations were conducted at high marsh Site 5A during the summers of 1975 and 1976 to trace the fate of selected nutrients through complete tide cycles. These studies were at either hsw or lsw and focused on both the water running off the marsh surface and water remaining on the marsh.
In the laboratory all samples were analyzed for dissolved O2 (DO) using the azide modification of the Winkler method (American Public Health As- sociation 1971), CO2 by titration (American Public Health Association 1971), nitrate nitrogen (N03-N), nitrite nitrogen (N02-N), ammonia (plus amino acid) nitrogen (NH3-N) and inorganic phosphate (POrP) following Strick- land and Parsons (1968) and total phosphate (total P) following Menzel and Corwin (1965). Because the sites were not gauged, all values are expressed in marshwater concentrations rather than total outputs from the wetland.
KUHEKT L. SIMPSON ET AL.
RESULTS
Dissolved and Carbon Dioxide
Patterns of DO and are presented in 2. The Crosswicks Creek (1, 2, 7, 8) and those downstream from the high marsh (Site 5) and
u U " ' U . .a-- •• ",",-, areas 4) show typical seasonal DO patterns. The high marsh
Site 5A had depressed DO levels in the summer at both hsw and Isw. Morn- slack water values ranged from 5.5 mg/l to <4 mg/l in the early fall with lsw values 1-1.5 mg/llower during this period. When compared main channel of Crosswicks Creek, late fall DO at lsw was noticeably
C1.el:JfeSSt~C1. ,-.'"" .... 0''''.-.rr with the period of maximum decomposition of vascular
material. Pond and areas (Sites 4B, 4C) were virtually de- of DO < 1 in the summer and supersaturated to > 16 mg/I afternoon Isw in the winter and The elevated winter values ap-
with the of dense mats of Rhizoclonium and other fila- the death of vascular plants in the fall at these sites.
rlr'l1n"nllr the areas (Site 4A) reflected lsw patterns
areas but with less intensity as Crosswicks Creek
-'--'A ... ~Y'" for Sites 7 and 8 upstream from the sewage
Sites 4 Band 4C during the winter and spring lower DO levels at Isw.
than hsw values except at Sites 7 and and Sites 4B and 4C in the
are shown in 3.
the summer in the in the
U.<;;.----LU.VUA,' Nil. Mainstream channel
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN
Fig. 2. Changes in DO (squares) and CO2 (circles) for 10 marsh sites between June 1974 and June 1975. Solid lines represent high slack water and dashed lines low slack water.
248 ROBERT L. SIMPSON ET AL.
Changes in N03-N (squares) and NH3-N (circles) for 10 marsh sites between June June 1975. Solid lines represent high slack water and dashed lines low slack water.
Site 1 20
10
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN FRESHWATER
~ 1\
,'1 r - ...
"" \
:
\ / \\ I
,,'
1\
1 \
I \
\ I \
Site
.... I
',,-, ,\ I-
\ I
\ I
\ J
\ I 1/
V
MARSHES
"
1 \
I \
\
\ I
\ I
\,' \._--~',
---~,v:_----
__ _
10 5
Site 4B
"
I
Fig. 4. Changes in P04-P for the 10 marsh sites between June 1974 and June 1975. Solid represent high slack water and dashed lines low slack water.
sites (1, 2, 7, 8) showed no that Isw
were generally 10-40 p,g-atoms Nil higher than hsw levels downstream the sewage outflow.
Ammonia N levels were extremely low r<:llnOlnO
detectable in the pond-like and pond areas summer. For the remainder of the year, values
at lsw, but typically ranged from 20-80 p,g-atoms Nil at hsw. Much of the hsw NH3-N present at downstream Sites 4 and 4A never reached these areas during the summer months. High marsh (Site levels were variable during the summer but on several occasions this levels approaching zero were recorded at Isw. At other times the year, were approximately the same at both hsw and Isw with maximum values of 100 p,g-atoms Nil occurring during the winter. Ammonia N values at Site 8 at the head of the marshes on Crosswicks Creek were always generally being <20 p,g-atoms Nil with little between hsw and The main stream channel Sites 1 and 2 normally had elevated values at Isw
ROBERT L. SIMPSON ET AL.
50
4 40 "0,
3 30 E I
a
c :2 208
"
z
100
E
80C o m ~ 60
20
6 7 8 9 10 11
Hours From High Slack Water
Fig. Changes in DO, and N03-N during I complete tide cycle (beginning with high water) at locations on the high marsh surface near Site 5A on 13 June 1975 .
... c'l:ra""rn from the sewage outflow always had elevated
the summer months ranged from 4-8 j.Lg-atoms Nil at Sites S and SA and stream channel sites (1, 2, 7, 8). Pond-like had much lower values with hsw levels <2 j.Lg-atoms Nil and
<O.S NIL Generally, values <2 j.Lg-atoms Nil
the winter and spring at all with <O.S j.Lg-atoms and pond Sites 4 Band 4C.
during the study are presented in 4.
0011"0<;:\1'11("' ""h''''''',,,,h'>'to levels were always low usually being <S j.Lg-atoms P/l
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN
6. Changes in N03-N leaving the high marsh surface (solid line) and stream channel (dashed line) during I complete tide cycle with high slack Site SA on 12 August 1976.
in and areas
hsw and was found
hsw than at Isw. Indeed, levels were CO:IlSIUeJrCl
which was a short distance downstream within came from seepage a
was found at Isw at Site 5A. . .... .u,,""''''''J.
m ' n ' .... "'" Ilu influenced the
show elevated levels often ""-''''''' ... ''''' ... 'cHt'".
to the direction of tidal movement.
Tide Studies 5 shows III
at 2 study areas near Site 5A levels were >5
to < 1 mg/l where remained until the
marsh surface. Then DO levels
showed the reverse but rose more the 9 hours that the
to initial levels
£1 .. " ... '''''£1 dramatically from
flooded to undetectable levels
then rose 120 U,~--U-L'l"
Studies
100
90
80
70
60
~ ~
j
50 a~ := 40
30
-&_-6-
cr-~- ,,; ~
I
"'-4
" \-,
\I ....
,
\~~ ,,; jfY \ \ I I "fit'
"
I ~
I Phosphate i
Go. "
.,.::::
.s 6 1 8 9 10 11
Hours from Slack Water
Changes in during 1 complete tide cycle (beginning with high slack locations on the high marsh surface near Site SA on 13 June 1975.
""",.,,,,,~ .. h·.r<~ of the increase was much
P/l at hsw to nearly 100 ftg-atoms P/l Imlne<imtelv marsh reflooded.
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN FRESHWATER
...
-
.-"'4""41---
MARSHES
Fig. 8. Changes in P04-P leaving the high marsh surface (solil< line) and in the adjacent stream channel (dashed line) during 1 complete tide cycle (beginning with high slack water) Site SA on 12 August 1976.
Surface waters leaving the high marsh show a somewhat different for P04-P (Fig. 8). There was an initial decline in
water left the marsh surface, then a gradual increase in marsh through the remainder of the tide cycle. Unlike centrations in the adjacent stream channel were 1"">'-""''''''' ""u
of water draining from the high marsh.
The patterns of change in all nutrients were the same of when sampling was initiated in the tide cycle.
DISCUSSION
Different patterns of nutrient distribution were found in the major habitats of the marsh. Pond and pond-like sites (4B, 4C) were of and NH3-N throughout the year, N03-N from late to midwinter
at lsw) and DO in the summer and fall. Carbon dioxide values were elevated during the period of DO depletion with the site (4C), the site least affected by tidal action, exceeding 30 mg/l in the summer months. In and spring, CO2 was virtually absent, particularly at afternoon lsw in close
correspondence· with the growth of dense mats
filamentous algae following the dieback of the Arr.ArOA.-.1" veg~~ta·nOJn.
The major nutrient source for the pond and sites (4B and was flood tide Delaware River water that entered the area through
Sites 4 and 4A. High slack water inorganic N and concentrations at the
ROBERT L. SIMPSON ET AL.
than those found at the pond and pond-
HA'-'H""'-~HAj'jO, that both inorganic N and were trapped in the
area from Site 4A. Low slack water inorganic Nand concentrations were wen below hsw levels at Sites 4 and 4A suggest- that nutrients did not leave the pond-like area with the ebb tide.
lLIl<-AJLV'""fo',H there were differences in magnitude, marsh water nutrients as
marsh Site 5 were very similar to those in the pond and pond-like sites the macrophyte growing season. There were simi-
U ' - ' I J A v e l ' , . , V " , elevated CO2 , of N03-N and
levels. Carbon dioxide levels were COlrreSP()nCLea with the period of most
between high marsh and sites following death and dieback of the
'-'fo','~""UVH as little difference between hsw and Isw nutrient levels
displayed the reverse ... ",detAl'''''
influenced by either displayed little dif- always had low NH3-Nand levels in due to runoff from
was '-'V'.H!JJL~L',",JL
marsh was likewise flushed with each of 10-15 cm over the
and areas
cm or less were at best only partially flushed.
" " V j I H ! J J L " ' v H ' ' - ' 0 0 of and rate of water movement
rl'C'tr'HI-_'"ll.-<'t".l~'H of DO in the wetland with the well flushed flushed
V,-"",",U"H!"-, '-''0,'''>'-''''''.'-' <--'-"-''--''IVU.V'' of DO .... LJ~~v"'.<-LU .."""..-,,,rl,,.. inundation insured a renewed
'-< ... ,J."'" ... within 2-4 h after
from the Delaware River likewise insured of Nand P to the marsh and
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN
1000
500
150 200
Fig. 9. Aboveground primary production (solid line) and Kjeldahl-N incorporated biomass (dashed line) for 1 high marsh study area near Site SA during 1975. The values day 298 (triangles) represent litter mass and Kjeldahl-N in that litter =30 days after the the 1976 growing season in the same study area.
areas. The high marsh, where flood tide water face, apparently acted as a sink for N and the pond-like and pond areas which are
to accumulate inorganic N throughout the year. Similar 1'"V>1t1-Al-n
N uptake have been reported for the Tinicum Marsh on the Delaware south of Philadelphia (Grant and Patrick, brackish water marshes of Chesapeake Bay (Stevenson et al., Island and adjacent marshes on the Mullica New
1972) seem to assimilate inorganic N growing period.
Nitrogen was rapidly incorporated by the PnllPnrYPT1T rY><'l"'r£,\,I"\I-\',,1-
the growing season as shown in 9. After this initial l n r ' A r n n .. ro:>Tlr.n
standing crop in the plants remained constant. if leaf turnover which has been shown by Whigham et al.
considered, the vegetation likely continues to need a N source to new tissue until growth ceases in late summer. It was
summer period of biomass accumulation that levels aDloe::lred in the surface waters of the marsh. Likewise summer tide
showed N03-N was rapidly depleted on the marsh surface once flood tide waters recede. It appears, therefore, that at least of this N03-N may have been assimilated by the plants. The fact that marsh
tion exposed to sewage effluent high in inorganic N had C)U'JCH,UHUU, • •
256 ROBERT L. SIMPSON ET AL.
tissue N than vegetation not exposed to sewage (Whigham and Simpson, supports this conclusion.
death and dieback of the vascular plants at the first frost, there was a rapid loss of and even more dramatic loss of N from the
C>"UHUJLU.F', dead plants. Within a month after death, 80% of the N incorporated
the litter standing on the marsh was lost. Similar losses of N have been found using litterbags placed on the marsh surface although there was only
=
50% loss of N in the 1 st month probably because of microbial colonization of the litter on the wetland surface (R. L. Simpson and D. F. Whigham,
""" .. ",,11'1'" observation). Some N however, may be withdrawn from above-
of marsh including Peltandra, Typha and perhaps and 1975; R. Walker and R. E. Good, personal obser- to the end of the growing season.
With death and dieback of vegetation in the fall, hsw and lsw inorganic N levels became roughly equal in the high marsh suggesting no net exchange of
i n r W " " " " , n l l f ' N between the marsh and Delaware River during the fall and
winter. In contrast Stevenson et al. (1977) found a net export of inorganic N a Chesapeake low salinity marsh during the fall. This difference be due to the fact that the Chesapeake Bay marshes are in agricultural areas whereas the Marshes are more isolated from such activities.
A .. u n J U ' ' ' - U the fate of N is unknown for the Hamilton Marshes,
Island Marsh (R. E. Good,personal communication) and low marshes (Stevenson et al., 1977) suggest that freshwater and brackish tidal marshes may export organic nitrogen to the the Hamilton Marshes it appears that there was a net import of P04-P areas. Differences in hsw and Isw surface water concentra- that the marsh also took up P04-P. unlike with substantial may be returned to the surface waters after flood tide waters recede from the marsh. Phosphorus appeared to lost when the marsh decomposes in the fan with to 95% of the P in living tissue lost within the 1 st month after
\JALU/JC'VU and D. F. Whigham, personal observation). The net
flux of P is unknown for the Hamilton Marshes, but Stevenson et al.
found that low salinity marshes export P on an ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
was the Hamilton Environmen-
Commission and of Planning and Water Pollution Control, of Water Research and through Grant No. B-060-NJ, and a Xi Grant-in-Aid. Special extended to many student assistants without whose assis- work would have been impossible to complete.
NUTRIENT MOVEMENTS IN FRESHWATER TIDAL MARSHES
LITERA TURE CITED
American Public Health Association (1971). "Standard Methods for the examination and Wastewater." 13th Ed. American Public Health Association, Inc., New York.
Durand, J. B., and Nadeau, R. J. (1972). "Water resources development in the Mullica Basin. Part I. Biological evaluation of the Mullica River-Great Bay Estuary" New Water Resources Institute, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Good, R. E., and Good, N. F. (1975). Vegetation and production of the Woodbury Hessian Run freshwater tidal marsh. Bat·tonia 43, 38-45.
Good, R. E., Hastings, R. W., and Denmark, R. E. (1975). "An environmental assessment wetlands: A case study of Woodbury Creek and associated marshes." Rutgers Marine Sciences Center Technical Report 75-2. New Brunswick, New Jersey. 49 Grant, R. R. Jr., and Patrick, R. (1970). Tinicum Marsh as a water purifier. In "Two
Tinicum Marsh, Delaware and Philadelphia Counties, Pa. (J. McCormick, R. R.
R. Patrick, eds.), pp. 105-123. The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Menzel, D. W., and Corwin, N. (1965). The measurement of total phosphorus in ",,,,,,,en,,,,,,,,
based on the liberation of organically bound fractions by persulfate oxidation.
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Stevenson, J. C, Heinle, D., Flemer, D., Small, R., Rowland, R., and Ustach, Nutrient exchanges between brackish water marshes and the estuary. In "Estuarine cesses. Vol. 2. Circulation, Sediments, Transfer of Material in the Estuary" (M.
ed.), pp. 219-240. Academic Press, New York.
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Whigham, D. F., and Simpson, R. L. (19700). The potential use of freshwater tidal marshes the management of water quality in the Delaware River. In "Biological control of water pollution" (1. Tourbier and R. W. Pierson, Jr., eds.), pp. 173-186. University of Pennsyl- vania Press, Philadelphia, Pa.
Whigham, D. F., and Simpson, R. L. (1976b). Sewage spray irrigation in a Delaware freshwater tidal marsh. In "Freshwater wetlands and sewage effluent disposal" (D.
Tilton, R. H. Kadlec and C J. Richardson, eds.), pp. 119-144. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Whigham, D. F., McCormick, J., Good, R. E., and Simpson, R. L. (1978). Biomass and primary production of freshwater tidal wetlands of the Middle Atlantic Coast.
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