ABSTRACT
The importance of salt marsh cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel, in the estuarine habitat is abundantly documented. Because most of its organic carbon makes its way into the estuarine and marine food webs via the detrital pathway, the role of decomposers to cordgrass cycling is of considerable importance. This fact has prompted a good deal of research ranging from determining the time course of its disappearance, to listings of microorganisms capable of degrading its moribund tissues. The procedure was designed to quantify aerobic respiration of decomposers established on cordgrass following suppression of the bacterial component by antibiotics. Once the antibiotic of choice has been identified, comparative respirometry can be done on representative control and treated samples. Tissue maceration likely will have an adverse effect on metabolic activity of filamentous fungi. For this reason, it is important to do respirometric measurements on unmacerated samples.
