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Hydrology Effects on Recruitment
in Herbaceous Carolina Bays



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Beverly Collins and Loretta Battaglia






Introduction

 
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Hydrology, including depth and duration of flooding, can filter recruitment of wetland vegetation from the propagule bank.
   
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Hydrology differs among Carolina bays, which are elliptical isolated depression wetlands of the southeastern US coastal plain.
   
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We examined the relationships among hydrology, recruitment from the propagule bank, and extant vegetation over one season within and among six herbaceous bays that differ in hydroperiod and basin shape.
   
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Sediment cores were taken from 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% full bay water level and subjected to flooded, midsummer drawdown, or moist soil conditions.
   
• We compared composition of vegetation that developed from the cores among hydrology treatments and with extant bay vegetation to test the general hypothesis that hydrology is the primary filter on recruitment and species distribution.
   
Sampling
 
 
 
Coefficient of variation of bay water level (CV), flooding frequency, and mean water depth - Table 1
Table 1. Coefficient of variation of bay water level (CV), flooding frequency, and mean water depth at each sampling distance (d10-d75) from bay center in six Carolina bays from March to December.
 
 
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