Does Salt Marsh Fertilization Enhance Shellfish Production?
An Application of Flow Analysis Only available on loan from the National Sea Grant Library Finn, J.T. and T.M. Leschine Environmental Management, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 193-203, 1980 WHOI-R-80-011 The method of flow analysis, which is similar to economic input-output analysis, is presented as a means of making flow models of ecological systems more useful to environmental managers. This paper considers as an illustration the extent to which nitrogen fertilizer added to Spartina salt marsh sediments can enhance shellfish growth. Nitrogen flow models of both the Barataria Bay salt marsh complex of coastal Louisiana and the Sippewissett Marsh of western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, are analyzed. The analysis shows the transfer of added nitrogen to shellfish growth via Spartina growth, decomposition, and detrital feeding to be considerably less efficient that its transfer to Spartina growth itself. These results are similar for both marsh systems, despite their great physical differences and despi
