Hydrology
Effects on Recruitment
in Herbaceous Carolina Bays
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Bay
Vegetation
Species richness of bay vegetation increased, and vegetation became more dissimilar from bay centers, which were continuously flooded in most bays, toward the margins, where water level fluctuated. Among bays, richness increased from more pond-like bays to the most flashy bay, which dried completely at intervals during the growing season. |
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| Except in the most flashy bay, which lacked floating-leaved aquatic species, bay vegetation graded from obligate wetland species to a mixture of obligate and facultative wetland species with distance from bay center to margin. |
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Relative
cover of dominant taxa at distances (d10-d75) from the center of
flashy Bay 67 and the other, less flashy bays (Bays 31, 66, 77,
78, 176). Solid bars are obligate wetland floating-leaved plants
Nymphaea odorata (NO), Utricularia spp. (US), and
Brasenia schreberi (BS). Hatched and cross hatched bars are
obligate wetland plants, including emergents Panicum hemitomon
(PH), Leersia hexandra (LH), and Eleocharis spp. (ES)
and the herb Lacnanthes caroliniana (LC). Stippled bars are
facultative plants, including Erectites hiracifolia (EH),
Ilex spp. (IS), Smilax spp. (SS), Rubus ssp.
(RS), and Diospyros virginiana (DV).
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Sediment
Core Vegetation
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| The flooding treatment (FL) promoted convergence on obligate wetland floating-leaved and emergent species, low species richness, and high community similarity of vegetation from the sediment cores. |
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| Relative cover of taxa in vegetation from sediment cores taken from distances (d10-d75) from bay centers and subjected to flooded (F), drawdown (D), or moist soil (M) conditions. At each hydrology treatment and distance combination, cover is relative the taxon with the greatest cover. US = Utricularia spp.; pH = Panicum hemitomon, ED = Eleocharis spp.; RS = Rhynchospora spp.; SEDG = combined cover of Cyperus spp. and Carex spp. |
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