Production and Fate of Organic Material fromSagittaria IatifoliaandNelumbo luteaon Pool 19, Mississippi River

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Abstract
To determine the contribution of aquatic macrophytes to autochthonous production in a navigation pool, quadrangles were established prior to the 1983 growing season in monotypic stands of emergent Sagittaria latifolia Willd. and floating Nelumbo lutea (Willd.) Pers. on Pool 19, Mississippi River, near Nauvoo, Illinois. All organic matter was removed monthly from four 0.25 m2 areas within the quadrangles. Quantities of standing organic material and sediment organic material were determined. The greatest accumulation rate of live and dead standing organic material, 13 g ash-free dry weight (AFDW) m−2 day−1 for Sagittaria and 7 g AFDW m−2 day−1 for Nelumbo. occurred between July and August. Maximum standing organic material was 635 g AFDW/m2 for Sagittaria and 337 g AFDW/m2 for Nelumbo. Following senescence and collapse of standing material, no subsequent increase in organic matter was found in the sediment. This suggests that above-ground organic material from aquatic macrophtye beds may quickly be reduced to fine-particulate organic matter (FPOM) by microbial and physical breakdown, then transported from macrophyte beds into other riverine habitats. This FPOM could then serve as a food source for the extensive filter-feeding invertebrate populations usually found near macrophyte beds.

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