Repetitive desiccation events weaken a salt marsh mutualism

Nectar bacteria, but not yeast, weaken a plant-pollinator mutualism.

Mutualistic interactions are often subject to exploitation by species that are not directly involved in the mutualism. Understanding which organisms act as such 'third-party' species and how they do so is a major challenge in the current study of mutualistic interactions. Here, we show that even species that appear ecologically similar can have contrasting effects as third-party species. We exp...

Salt Marsh Tidal Channels

Salt marsh tidal channels are highly sinuous. For this project, field surveys and aerial photographs were used to characterize the planform of tidal channels at China Camp Marsh in the San Francisco Bay, California. To model the planform evolution, we assume that the topographic curvature of the channel centreline is a key element driving meander migration. Extraction of curvature data from a p...

Experiencing the salt marsh environment through the foot of Littoraria irrorata: Behavioral responses to thermal and desiccation stresses

Food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem

Our mothers teach us to grill our meats " well done " and chew them thoroughly. Even if mom did not know why she insisted, both are good precautions against parasites. Parasites may be in our food, but they are not in our food webs. Is it necessary to take the precaution of considering them? In this chapter, we argue that parasites affect important properties of food webs and that it may be dif...

Mercury mobility in a salt marsh colonised by Halimione portulacoides.

The present study intends to increase the knowledge on the mobility of mercury in a salt marsh colonised by Halimione portulacoides. Mercury distribution in the sediment layers and its incorporation into the plant biomass were assessed, as well as the potential export of mercury from the contaminated area to the adjacent environment. Mercury pools in the sediments ranged from 560 to 943 mg m(-2...