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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Geomorphic Analysis Of Tidal Creek Networks, Karyn Inez Novakowski, Raymond Torres, L Robert Gardner, George Voulgaris May 2004

Geomorphic Analysis Of Tidal Creek Networks, Karyn Inez Novakowski, Raymond Torres, L Robert Gardner, George Voulgaris

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to determine if concepts in terrestrial channel network analysis provide insight on intertidal creek network development and to present new metrics for their analysis. We delineated creek network geometry using high-resolution digital images of intertidal marsh near Georgetown, South Carolina. Analyses reveal that intertidal creek networks may be topologically random. Length-area relationships suggest that salt marsh and terrestrial networks have similar scaling properties, although the marsh networks are more elongate than terrestrial networks. To account for recurrent water exchange between creek basins at high tide, we propose that the landscape unit of geomorphic analyses …


Below-Ground Biomass In Healthy And Impaired Salt Marshes, R. Eugene Turner, Erick M. Swenson, Charles S. Milan, James M. Lee, Thomas A. Oswald Jan 2004

Below-Ground Biomass In Healthy And Impaired Salt Marshes, R. Eugene Turner, Erick M. Swenson, Charles S. Milan, James M. Lee, Thomas A. Oswald

Faculty Publications

Twelve salt marshes in south Louisiana (USA) were classified as either ‘impaired’ or ‘healthy’ before a summer sample collection of above- and below-ground biomass and determination of sediment accretion rates. The above-ground biomass of plant tissues was the same at both impaired and healthy salt marshes and was not a good predictor of marsh health. However, below-ground root biomass in the upper 30 cm was much lower in the impaired marshes compared to the healthy marshes. Compromises to root production apparently occur before there is an obvious consequence to the above-ground biomass, which may quickly collapse before remedial action can …