Grazers on Spartina and Their Predators

Abstract

Subsequent to the studies of Smalley (1959, 1959a, 1960), Kale (1964, 1965), and Marples (1966), a hiatus occurred in research published on the grazing food web associated with the Spartina plant of the Sapelo Island salt marshes. This relative dearth of interest in that portion of the salt-marsh ecosystem resulted perhaps from Smalley’s conclusion that only a relatively small percentage of the energy flow was transferred from the primary producer to the herbivore community. Hence, more recent research centered around those functional groups, in particular microbial populations, that initiate the larger part of the flow of energy and elements in Spartina salt marshes.