ABSTRACT
The Great Lakes coastal marshes have received very little study compared to Atlantic coast salt marshes. Many of the wetlands within the Great Lakes Basin have already been converted to other uses. These wetlands are often considered to be modulators of events between land and water. The 7–10 year cycle of water level fluctuation results in low periods in lake level which are about 1.75 m lower than the high. As water level increases, inundated areas will support considerable emergent and/or submergent productivity including the associated epiphytic plant productivity. The Great Lakes coastal marshes are unlike other midwestern inland freshwater marshes because of the unique fluctuations in water level due to seiche activity in the lakes. Most of ideas about the structure and function of Great Lakes coastal marshes are based on limited data sets and generalities.
