Halophyte recruitment in a salt marsh restoration site
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Published source details
Lindig-Cisneros R. & Zedler J.B. (2002) Halophyte recruitment in a salt marsh restoration site. Estuaries, 25, 1174-1183.
Published source details Lindig-Cisneros R. & Zedler J.B. (2002) Halophyte recruitment in a salt marsh restoration site. Estuaries, 25, 1174-1183.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Restore/create brackish/saline marshes or swamps (multiple actions) Action Link |
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Directly plant non-woody plants: brackish/saline wetlands Action Link |
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Restore/create brackish/saline marshes or swamps (multiple actions)
A study in 1996–2000 of a salt marsh restoration site in California, USA (Lindig-Cisneros & Zedler 2002) reported that over four growing seasons after multiple interventions, unplanted seedlings colonized and vegetation cover developed. Over the first growing season after intervention 35,507 unplanted seedlings of eight species were recorded across eighty-five 4-m2 plots. At least 98% of unplanted seedlings were pickleweed Salicornia virginica, dwarf saltwort Salicornia bigelovii or estuary seablite Suaeda esteroa. For these species, the number of unplanted seedlings/plot typically depended on elevation and the identity and number of planted species (see original paper). After four growing seasons, plots contained 3.2–5.3 plant species on average. There was 94% total vegetation cover, dominated by pickleweed and dwarf saltwort. Methods: In 1996/1997, an upland area was lowered to intertidal elevations and graded into a slope. In this area, eighty-five 4-m2 study plots were amended with fine sediment, tilled and levelled. Seventy plots were then planted with salt marsh herbs/succulents (90 seedlings/plot; 1–6 species/plot; eight species total). Non-planted seedlings were counted (and removed) throughout the growing season in 1998, and at the end of the growing season in 1999. Plant species and their cover were surveyed, along two transects/plot, until autumn 2000. This study was based on the same experimental set-up as (3) and (6).
(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)
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Directly plant non-woody plants: brackish/saline wetlands
A replicated, randomized, controlled study in 1997–1998 in an estuary in California, USA (Lindig-Cisneros & Zedler 2002) found that planting salt marsh succulents reduced seedling recruitment for one species, but increased recruitment for two others. Over the second growing season after planting, there were fewer unplanted pickleweed Salicornia virginica seedlings in plots where pickleweed had been planted (71–99 seedlings/4 m2) than where it had not been planted (167–380 seedlings/4 m2). In contrast, there were more unplanted seedlings of dwarf saltwort Salicornia bigelovii and estuary seablite Suaeda esteroa in plots where each species had been planted (saltwort: 395–920; seablite: 21–137 seedlings/4 m2) than where they had not been planted (saltwort: 14–102; seablite: 3–10 seedlings/4 m2). Methods: In April 1997, eighty-five 4-m2 plots were established (in five sets of 17) on an area of recently reprofiled intertidal sediment. All plots were amended with fine sediment, tilled and levelled. Seventy plots were then planted with 90 greenhouse-reared seedlings (random mix of one, three or six plant species: sometimes including the focal species and sometimes not). The other 15 plots were left unplanted. Seedlings were counted in all plots throughout the 1998 growing season. This study was based on the same experimental set-up as (12), (15) and (16).
(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)
