Identification of microdetritus derived from Spartina and its occurrence in the water column and intertidal sediments of Cumberland Basin, Bay of Fundy

A cellulose-specific staining procedure employing Herzberg's chlor-zinc-iodide solution was developed to aid in the identification of microdetritus derived from Spartina alterniflora and tested on samples of suspended and sedimented particulate matter collected in the Cumberland Basin at the head of the Bay of Fundy. Not all of the particles reacting positively to the stain could have been identified as originating from Spartina on the basis of morphology alone, and the stain improved speed and confidence in identification even when particles could be identified morphologically. Spartina dominated particles greater than 100 μm while most of the smaller particles were amorphous aggregates of uncertain origin. In April 1985, at the start of the salt-marsh growing season, the average concentration of suspended microdetritus derived from Spartina in Cumberland Basin surface water was 129 mg C m-3 or 0.3-2.7% of the particulate organic carbon. The average concentration in intertidal sediments was 0.036 mg C g-1 or 0.2-0.9% of the sediment organic carbon. Summing all reservoirs in the sediment (to a depth of 1 cm) and water column, the total amount of detritus originating from Spartina in Cumberland Basin is 10-24% of the estimated annual net primary production of low marsh S. alterniflora.