Temporal relationship between the deposition and microbial degradation of lignocellulosic detritus in a Georgia salt marsh and the Okefenokee Swamp

Temperature dependence and seasonal variations in rates of microbial degradation of the lignin and polysaccharide components of specifically radiolabeled lignocelluloses were determined in sediment and water samples from a Georgia salt marsh and the nearby Okefenokee Swamp. Although temperature regimes in the two ecosystems were similar, rates of mineralization ofSpartina alterniflora lignocellulose in salt marsh sediments increased eightfold between winter and summer, whereas rates of mineralization of lignocellulose from an analogous freshwater macrophyte,Carex walteriana, in Okefenokee sediments increased only twofold between winter and summer. Temperature was the major factor influencing seasonal variations in rates of lignocellulose degradation in both environments. At any given temperature, no substantial differences in lignocellulolytic potential were observed with sediment samples collected at each season. In both ecosystems, the bulk of the lignocellulosic detritus was not degraded at the time of its peak deposition during the fall and winter. Instead, the periods of maximal decomposition occurred during the following spring and summer. These results suggest that periods of maximal nutrient regeneration from the mineralization of lignocellulosic detritus coincide with periods of highest primary production, and that, depending on hydrologic conditions, significant horizontal transport of essentially intact lignocellulosic material is possible due to the lag period between deposition and microbial degradation.