Midsummer Photosynthetic Carbon Budget for Old Woman Creek Wetland, Ohio: Relative Contribution of Aquatic Macrophytes Versus Phytoplankton

Abstract

Few data are available on net productivity rates in Laurentian Great Lakes wetland communities. We used several methods (Licor photosynthesis system and various radiotracer methods) to estimate midsummer carbon photoassimilation rates among important phytoplanktonic and aquatic macrophyte assemblages in Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve (OWC) on Lake Erie near Huron, OH, during 1993-1995- Our data suggested that the majority of carbon flow into the OWC estuary (approximately 66-99% of the total) occurred through aquatic macrophytes, especially the dominant floatingleaved species Nelumbo lutea and the emergent species Phragmites australis.