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Worldwide, there arc 500-700 species of submersed angiosperms adapted to freshwater and estuarine environments compared with 50 species adapted to marine waters. In their evolution from freshwater ancestors, seagrasses have undergone extensive anatomical changes (e.g. reduction in floral and leaf structures, reduction of xylem tissue with a lacuna1 gas transport system), as well as physiological adaptations (bicarbonate utilization in photosynthesis). Seagrasses appear to have more annual production than do their freshwater counterparts because they develop greater standing crops and have the capacity to store photosynthetic products in extensive rhizome systems in the sediments. For example, maximum productivity of > 10 g C rnd2 d-* has been reported for tropical seagrass species (Cymodocea nodosa and Thalassia testudinum), but the maximum productivity of temperate freshwater species such as Myriophyllum or tropical freshwater species such as Hydrilla is usually 50% of their diets. Also, sea urchins (Diadema antilarum) consume plant material, creating bare halos around tropical patch reefs in the Caribbean Sea. It is difficult to generalize regarding brackish submersed aquatics in estuaries because their coverage is variable due to light limitation and algal overgrowth from eutrophication. Freshwater macrophytes seem rarely grazed by fish (except via exotic introductions of Tilapia or carp), but waterfowl use is often significant at the end of the growing season. Thus, trophic relations in freshwater macrophyte beds may be qualitatively different and much more pulsed than in seagrass systems, with more r-selection in lakes and more K-selection in marine environments.

The rates of production, leaf grazing, and stem decomposition associated with Hibiscus moscheutos were quantified to contrast the ecology of this brackish herbaceous perennial with fresh and salt marsh species. Average net aerial primary production (NAPP) during 1978 and 1979 was estimated to be slightly over 1200 g°m—2°yr—1, which was calculated by summing: peak standing crop (49%); leaf mortality and litter production (36%); and losses to herbivores (15%). Three species of herbivorous insects were found to be important grazers: Atomacera decepta, Chionodes hibiscella, and Althaeus hibisci. Herbivore consumption was far greater than previously reported in salt marsh systems and rivals that of terrestrial communities. The root: shoot ratio (2.3) is comparable to many fresh marsh species but lower than most high—salinity species. The decomposition rate of Hibiscus stem material was estimated to be on the order of 7—8 yr, or up to five times slower than stems and leaves of other typical brackish marsh species (Typha, Scirpus, and Phragmites). The export potential of detritus from decaying stems is apparently minor because of this slow rate of decomposition combined with the diminished tidal action typical of Hibiscus—dominated marshes. We hypothesize that this unusual marsh dominant differs from Spartina in salt marsh systems by nourishing a more robust grazing food chain and by not exporting significant quantities of detrital material.