Bedload and nearbed transport of coarse (>1 mm) detritus particles wer
e investigated in a tidal creek of a salt marsh in the Westerschelde e
stuary (south-west Netherlands). Using a fyke net positioned on the cr
eek bottom, hourly transport through the creek was measured during 14
flood-ebb cycles in 1990 and 1991. Transport was bidirectional with fl
ood imports varying between 32 and 2601 g dry weight (DW), and ebb exp
orts varying between 0 and 4737 g DW. In nine of 14 tidal cycles, the
creek was functioning as a net exporting system. The material that was
exported with the ebb consisted mainly of macrophyte material. The an
nual loss of coarse organic matter by bedload plus nearbed transport t
hrough the creek was estimated to be less than 0.2% of the estimated a
nnual above-ground plant biomass production in the drainage area of th
e creek. Therefore, it is concluded that this type of detritus transpo
rt is probably insignificant for the carbon balance of the salt marsh.
(C) 1996 Academic Press Limited