Fall 2010 -- The Detritus Cycle Begins

Fall is happening out at the Sanctuary. Many hardwoods and the bald cypress are starting to loose their leaves for the winter. The amount of leaf-fall from the bottomland forest canopy is truly amazing. This "leaf litter" then sits on the forest floor overwinter where the leaves' waxy coating breaks down. Once the waxy coating is broken down and temperatures warm (the following spring/summer), decomposition increases until the leaves are converted into detritus.

Detritus is finely broken down leaf (organic) particles that other organisms use as nutrients. Thus detritus forms the base of the aquatic food chain. A bottomland swamp like Crosby retains some detritus in low flow areas, as well as exports detritus downstream, which fuels the food chain within the Ortega River and St Johns River estuary. Shrimp are the most commonly known and commercially valuable organism that feed on detritus. However, there hundreds of thousands of other aquatic invertebrates that feed on detritus. A detailed explanation of detritus and it's role in ecosystems can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritus.