TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of common reed (Phragmites australis) invasion on marsh surface macrofauna
T2 - Response of fishes and decapod crustaceans
AU - Able, K. W.
AU - Hagan, S. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank interns and technicians at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station, especially K. Corcoran, S. Ho-eltje, V. Fitzhugh, E. Duval, R. Hoden, A. Podlinski, A. Stelling, T. Farley, C. Jones, and R. Rinaldi for field and laboratory assistance. We would also like to thank the landowners who allowed us access to Hog Islands. J. Ren, K. Nordstrom, and N. Psuty helped with determining elevations. L. Windham provided age estimates for the Phragmites at our study sites. Helpful comments on an earlier draft were provided by P. Jivoff and two anonymous reviewers. This work was funded by New Jersey Sea Grant, Public Service Electric and Gas, Inc., and Rutgers University Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS). This paper is IMCS Contribution No. 2000-15.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The tidally inundated marsh surface is an important site for energy exchanges for many resident and transient species. In many areas along the East Coast of the U.S. the dominant vegetation, Spartina alterniflora, has been replaced by the common reed (Phragmites australis). This shift has caused concern about the impact of Phragmites on marsh fauna but research in this area has been limited. During 1997 and 1998, we examined the effect of Phragmites on fish and decapod crustacean use of the marsh surface in the brackish water reaches of the Mullica River, in southern New Jersey, U.S. Fksh and decapod crustaceans were sampled with an array of shallow pit traps (rectangular glass dishes, 27.5 × 17.5 × 3.7 cm) and with flumes (1.3 m wide × 10 m long of 3.2-mm mesh). Irish (2-60 mm TL) dominated pit trap collections with Fundulus heteroclitus and Fundulus luciae significantly more abundant at Spartina sites. Fundulus heteroclitus was also the dominant fish (15-275 mm TL) collected in flumes but collections with this gear, including a number of species not collected in pit traps, showed no distinct preferences for different marsh vegetation types. Decapod crustaceans (1-48 mm CW) collected in pit traps were generally less abundant than fishes with Callinectes sapidus and Palaemonetes spp. most abundant in Spartina, while Rhithropanopeus harrisii was most abundant in Phragmites. The same decapod crustacean species (2-186 mm CW) dominated the flume collections and, similar to the pattern of fish collected by the flumes, there were no distinct habitat preferences for different marsh vegetation types. As a result of these observations, with different sampling techniques, it appears there is an overall negative effect of Phragmites on larval and small juvenile fish but less or no effect on larger fish and decapods crustaceans.
AB - The tidally inundated marsh surface is an important site for energy exchanges for many resident and transient species. In many areas along the East Coast of the U.S. the dominant vegetation, Spartina alterniflora, has been replaced by the common reed (Phragmites australis). This shift has caused concern about the impact of Phragmites on marsh fauna but research in this area has been limited. During 1997 and 1998, we examined the effect of Phragmites on fish and decapod crustacean use of the marsh surface in the brackish water reaches of the Mullica River, in southern New Jersey, U.S. Fksh and decapod crustaceans were sampled with an array of shallow pit traps (rectangular glass dishes, 27.5 × 17.5 × 3.7 cm) and with flumes (1.3 m wide × 10 m long of 3.2-mm mesh). Irish (2-60 mm TL) dominated pit trap collections with Fundulus heteroclitus and Fundulus luciae significantly more abundant at Spartina sites. Fundulus heteroclitus was also the dominant fish (15-275 mm TL) collected in flumes but collections with this gear, including a number of species not collected in pit traps, showed no distinct preferences for different marsh vegetation types. Decapod crustaceans (1-48 mm CW) collected in pit traps were generally less abundant than fishes with Callinectes sapidus and Palaemonetes spp. most abundant in Spartina, while Rhithropanopeus harrisii was most abundant in Phragmites. The same decapod crustacean species (2-186 mm CW) dominated the flume collections and, similar to the pattern of fish collected by the flumes, there were no distinct habitat preferences for different marsh vegetation types. As a result of these observations, with different sampling techniques, it appears there is an overall negative effect of Phragmites on larval and small juvenile fish but less or no effect on larger fish and decapods crustaceans.
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U2 - 10.2307/1352890
DO - 10.2307/1352890
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0034502628
SN - 0160-8347
VL - 23
SP - 633
EP - 646
JO - Estuaries
JF - Estuaries
IS - 5
ER -