| Title | Study of the invertebrates and fishes of salt marshes in two Oregon estuaries |
| Publication Type | Report |
| Year of Publication | 1981 |
| Authors | Higley, Duane L., and Robert L. Holton |
| Secondary Title | Miscellaneous Report (Coastal Engineering Research Center) |
| Number | no. 81-5 |
| Pagination | 132 p. |
| Date Published | 1981 |
| Institution | U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center |
| City | Springfield, VA |
| Call Number | OSU Libraries: Guin TC223 .U5 no.81-5, Digital Open Access |
| Keywords | Anisogammarus and Corophium (Amphipoda), Capitellidae (polychaeta), fish, Gnorimosphaeroma (Isopoda), invertebrates, Oligochaeta, Pacific staghorn sculpin = Leptocottus armatus, species composition, species list, Three-spined stickleback = Gasterosteus aculeatus |
| Abstract | A baseline and food chain study of invertebrate and fish life was done in the estuarine tidal marshes of Siletz and Netarts Bay, Oregon. Sweep nets, corers, enclosures, and samplers were used to sample invertebrates in level marsh, pan, tidal creek, and tidal flat habitats located in seven study areas representing various types of marsh. Fish were sampled by seine and otter trawls. Community taxonomic composition and trophic structure, along with fish stomach contents, are presented as relative frequency histograms and pie charts. Dominant invertebrate taxa in terrestrial collections were Acarina, Homoptera, and Diptera, and in aquatic collections were Capitellidae (polychaeta), Oligochaeta, Gnorimosphaeroma (Isopoda), and Anisogammarus and Corophium (Amphipoda). Three-spine stickleback and young staghorn sculpin were the most common fish species through the marsh zone; juvenile salmonids and other species were captured only in submerged level marshes and in a slough. Detrivores and scavengers dominated the invertebrate communities. The herbivore component increased from low marsh to high marsh and was the dominant trophic type in the higher vegetation of the high marsh. Araneae was the predominant invertebrate carnivore in the terrestrial communities. Fish consumed primarily aquatic animals even where terrestrial foods were available. The detritus food chain appears more important than the grazing food chain in the terrestrial communities, and transfer of marsh products to aquatic food chains is predominantly through the export of detritus rather than by the direct consumption of terrestrial animals. (Cassar-PTT) |
| Notes | "This study characterizes the animal communities and food chains of marshes in Siletz and Netarts Bays, Oregon." (p.8) Charts show relative frequency of species. Covers terrestrial and aquatic marsh species. |
| URL | https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA106973.pdf |
| Label | 1000 |
