Skip to main content
Log in

Recovery of freshwater marsh vegetation after a saltwater intrusion event

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Greenhouse mesocosms of freshwater marsh vegetation were exposed to a simulated saltwater intrusion event followed by a recovery period during which water levels and interstitial water salinity were adjusted over a range of conditions. Virtually all above-ground vegetation, including the three dominant species, Sagittaria lancifolia L., Leersia oryzoides (L.) Swartz, and Panicum hemitomon Schultes, was killed by the initial saltwater intrusion event. P. hemitomon did not recover, but S. lancifolia and L. oryzoides, as well as many of the other species initially present, exhibited some ability to recover depending on post-saltwater intrusion conditions. Increasingly harsh recovery conditions (for freshwater marsh vegetation), including more reduced soil conditions, higher interstitial salinities, and higher interstitial sulfide concentrations were associated with decreased live above-ground biomass and species richness. The effect of elevated salinity on vegetative recovery became more pronounced under flooded conditions. This experiment illustrates that the response of a freshwater marsh community to the long-term disturbance effect of a transient saltwater intrusion event will be strongly influenced by post-intrusion salinity and water levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allam AL, Hollis JP (1972) Sulfide inhibition of oxidases in rice roots. Phytopathology 62: 634–639

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin AH, Mendelssohn IA, McKee KL (1993) The seedbank of three tidal marsh communities (abstract). Bull Ecol Soc Am Suppl 74: 153

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan JH Jr, Turner RE, Cahoon DR (1988) Marsh management plans in practice: do they work in coastal Louisiana, USA? Environ Manage 12: 37–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner SP, Patrick WH, Gambrell RP (1989) Field techniques for measuring wetland soil parameters. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53: 883–890

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisk HN, McFarlan E (1955) Late quaternary delataic deposits of the Mississippi River. Crust of the earth. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 62: 279–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn KM (1992) Effects of hydrologic alterations on the vegetation and soils of marshes in Southern Louisiana. PhD. dissertation, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La

  • Frazier DE (1967) Recent deltaic deposits of the Mississippi River, their development and chronology. Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc Trans 17: 287–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Gambrell RP, Patrick WH (1978) Chemical and microbiological properties of anaerobic soils and sediments. In: Hook DD, Crawford RMM (eds) Plant life in anaerobic environments. Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor Mich, pp 375–423

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenway H, Munns R (1980) Mechanisms of salt tolerance in non-halophytes. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 31: 149–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood DJ (1961) The effect of oxygen concentration on the decomposition of organic materials in soil. Plant Soil 14: 360–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Havill DC, Ingold A, Pearson J (1985) Sulphide tolerance in coastal halophytes. Vegetatio 62: 279–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard RJ, Mendelssohn IA (1993) Oligohaline marsh plant community response to salinity pulses (abstract). Bull Ecol Soc Am Suppl 74: 283

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch MS, Mendelssohn IA (1989) Sulphide as a soil phytotoxin: differential responses in two marsh species. J Ecol 77: 565–578

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch MS, Mendelssohn IA, McKee KL (1990) Mechanism for the hydrogen sulfide-induced growth limitation in wetland macrophytes. Limnol Ocean 35: 399–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazar Research Laboratories (1986) Measurements using ISM-146 Micro Ion Sensing Electrode. Lazar Research Laboratories, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Leibowitz SG, Hill JM (1987) Spatial analysis of Louisiana coastal land loss. In: Turner RE, Cahoon DR (eds) Causes of wetland loss in the coastal central Gulf of Mexico (Tech Narrative, vol II). Final Report submitted to Minerals Management Service (Contract no. 14-12-0001-30252, OCS Study/MMS 87-0120), New Orleans, La pp 331–355

  • Linthurst RA (1979) The effect of aeration on the growth of Spartina alterniflora Loisel. Am J Bot 66: 685–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahapatra IC, Patrick WH (1969) Inorganic phosphate transformation in waterlogged soils. Soil Sci 107: 281–288

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee KL, Mendelssohn IA (1989) Response of a freshwater marsh plant community to increased salinity and increased water level. Aquat Bot 34: 301–316

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee KL, Mendelssohn, IA, Hester MW (1988) A reexamination of pore water sulfide concentrations and redox potentials near the aerial roots of Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia germinans. Am J Bot 75: 1352–1359

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendelssohn IA, McKee KL (1988) Spartina alterniflora die-back in Louisiana: time-course investigation of soil waterlogging effects. J Ecol 76: 509–521

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan DJ (1977) The Mississippi River delta legal-geomorphological evaluation of historic shoreline changes. Geosciences and man, vol 16. School of Geosciences, Louisiana State University, La

    Google Scholar 

  • Patrick WH, Wyatt R (1964) Soil nitrogen loss as a result of alternate submergence and drying. Proc Am Soil Sci Soc 28: 647–653

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson J, Havill DC (1988) The effect of hypoxia and sulfide on culture-grown wetland and non-wetland plants. II. Metabolic and physiological changes. J Exp Bot 39: 431–439

    Google Scholar 

  • Peltier WR, Tushingham AM (1989) Global sea level rise and the greenhouse effect: might they be related? Science 244: 806–810

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponnamperuma FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils. Adv Agron 24: 29–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Redfield AC (1967) Postglacial change in sea level in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Science 157: 687–690

    Google Scholar 

  • Redman FH, Patrick WH (1965) Effect of submergence on several biological and chemical soil properties. LSU Agric Exp Stn Bull no 592, Louisiana State University, La

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc (1985) SAS User's Guide: Statistics. SAS Institute, Cary, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner FT, Patrick WH (1968) Chemical changes in waterlogged soils as a result of oxygen depletion. Trans 9th Int Conf Soil Sci 4: 53–56

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1979) Methods for chemical analysis of water and wastes. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang FC (1987) Saltwater intrusion modeling: the role of manmade features. In: Turner RE, Cahoon DR (eds) Causes of wetland loss in the coastal central Gulf of Mexico (Tech. Narrative, vol II). Final Report submitted to Minerals Management Service (Contract no. 14-12-0001-30252, OCS Study/MMS 87-0120), New Orleans, La, pp 71–100

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Flynn, K.M., McKee, K.L. & Mendelssohn, I.A. Recovery of freshwater marsh vegetation after a saltwater intrusion event. Oecologia 103, 63–72 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328426

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328426

Key words

Navigation