Common Marsh Plant Species of the Gulf Coast Area. Volume I. Productivity.

As part of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredged Material Research Program, a study of the productivity of marsh plants common to the Gulf Coast area was conducted. The study reports on the productivity of seven marsh plant species in coastal marshes of Louisiana. The Wiegert-Evans harvest technique was used to measure productivity over a two-year period of the following species Distichlis spicata salt grass, Juncus roemerianus black rush, Phragmites communis common reed. Spartina alterniflora Saltmarsh cordgrass, Spartina patens saltmeadow cordgrass, and Sagittaria falcata bulltongue. Productivity was found to be related to the growth habit and turnover rate. S. patens, J. roemerianus, and d. spicata were found to be more productive than S. alterniflora, a species that was known to be highly productive. Productivity was higher in the fresh and brackish marsh species than in the salt marsh species and was higher for species that grow throughout the winter than those that die to the ground in late fall. An evaluation was also made of several techniques for measuring productivity, including harvest, phenometric, and gasometric methods.