<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites australis</Emphasis> (Common Reed) Invasion in the Rhode River Subestuary of the Chesapeake Bay: Disentangling the Effects of Foliar Nutrients,Genetic Diversity,Patch Size,and Seed Viability |
| |
Authors: | Karin M Kettenring Melissa K McCormick Heather M Baron Dennis F Whigham |
| |
Institution: | (1) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA;(2) Present address: Ecology Center and Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA;(3) Present address: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 COAS Administration Building, Corvallis, OR USA, 97331 |
| |
Abstract: | The invasion and expansion of the introduced haplotype of Phragmites australis across North America is of growing concern. Previous studies in the Chesapeake Bay region found that Phragmites was more abundant, had higher foliar nitrogen, and produced more viable seeds in brackish wetland subestuaries with more
anthropogenic development of the watershed. Here, we focus on a different scale and address issues related to the invasion
of Phragmites within a single subestuary, the Rhode River. We evaluated patterns in seed viability, foliar nutrient concentrations, patch
size, and genetic variation in ten Phragmites patches in wetlands that occur in the side of the subestuary that is surrounded by forest and 10 patches in wetlands that
are in the side of the subestuary that has extensive anthropogenic development. Seed viability varied from 0–60% among the
20 patches but did not differ significantly between patches on the developed vs. forested sides of the Rhode River. Foliar
nutrients also did not differ between patches on the two sides of the Rhode River. Seed viability, however, was negatively
related to foliar nutrients. Most Phragmites patches consisted of >1 genotype. Larger patches had multiple genotypes, and patches with more genotypes produced more viable
seeds. Our study indicates that the Rhode River subestuary behaves as one system with no differences in the measured Phragmites variables between the forested vs. developed sides of the watershed. Our findings also suggest a cyclical process by which
Phragmites can spread: larger patches contain more genetic diversity, which increases the chances for cross-fertilization. The subsequent
increased production of viable seeds can increase local levels of genetic diversity, which can further facilitate the spread
of Phragmites by seed. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|