The decomposer community, though not readily visible by virtue of its small size, is an important component of the ACE

Basin study area. The term decomposers is used to describe a guild of organisms (e.g., bacteria, fungi, crabs) that process organic constituents (e.g., plant material) to release carbon and other nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). This process creates a key link in transfer of energy and cycling of nutrients between various trophic groups in an ecosystem. This transfer of energy from one trophic group to another occurs via the consumption, death and decay of organisms. The breakdown of organic matter and conversion of organically bound nutrients into basic inorganic forms is called mineralization.! ! ! ! Decomposition Process! ! Decomposition of organic matter is chiey regulated by three interacting factors: (1) the decomposer community; (2) the physicochemical environment and; (3) the quality of resource (see organic matter ). In wetland sediments, the soil atmosphere, soil pH, temperature, redox potential and soil structure comprise the physicochemical environment. The redox potential is a measure of the probability of a substance to gain (to be reduced) or lose (to be oxidized) electrons. In addition, the quality of organic matter (estimated by the ratio of its carbon and nitrogen content or C:N ratio) largely determines the rate of carbon turnover and varies with the vegetation type.! ! The ACE Basin ecosystem comprises various types of sub-ecosystems di"ering in their biotic and physicochemical properties which control the activity and abundance of decomposers. For instance, the hydroecosystem (water columns) and the litho-ecosystem (adjoining marshes) of the ACE Basin study area form the two major environments for decomposition processes. In addition, both the water column and the adjoining wetlands can be further subdivided into fresh, brackish and salt water regions depending on the extent of sea water intrusion due to tidal forcing. Changes in salt concentration and associated parameters such as pH and redox potentials impact the functioning and abundance of decomposers. For example, the abundance of free bacteria decreases

exponentially along the salinity gradient, as has been observed for the St. Lawrence estuary (Painchaud et al. 1996). Similarly, estuarine hydrodynamics additionally inuence the distribution and function of the microbial community and the type of dominant vegetation that is a source of organic carbon for the decomposers.! ! In river-dominated tidal estuaries, such as the ACE Basin study area, an important source of carbon is the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transported from upstream sites to the downstream marshes. This is of particular relevance to the ACE Basin because this ecosystem includes the Edisto River which is laden with dissolved and particulate organic matter; as a result, the Edisto River is often called a blackwater river. Inland waters are dominated by DOC from degradation of terrestrial and aquatic plants. In such waters, DOC can account for about 80% of the total organic carbon pool (DOC + particulate organic carbon attached to clay and sediment particles; Wetzel et al. 1995). The DOC leached from decomposing litter is a mixture of compounds of di"ering lability. For example, DOC may consist of simple sugars of high lability, organic compounds with intermediate lability and refractory compounds, such as humic acids, with low lability. During transport, more labile compounds of this heterogenous mixture are selectively degraded by microbiota, so that eventually only the refractory fraction of the original DOC reaches the estuaries. This refractory substance is subjected to increased residence time on reaching the estuary. Other abiotic factors such as hydrological conditions and salinity further transform DOC and contribute to the import of organic carbon aggregates and other nutrients to adjoining wetland surfaces.