Establishment of a Spartina anglica population on a tidal mudflat: a field experiment

Published source details Groenendijk A.M. (1986) Establishment of a Spartina anglica population on a tidal mudflat: a field experiment. Journal of Environmental Management, 22, 1-12.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Introduce seeds of non-woody plants: brackish/saline wetlands Action Link

Introduce seeds of non-woody plants: brackish/saline wetlands

A replicated study in 1981–1982 on a mudflat in the Netherlands (Groenendijk 1986) reported that 1–23% of sown common cordgrass Spartina anglica seeds germinated within one month, and that the average height of surviving plants increased over one growing season. Initial germination rates were highest in plots at higher elevations (97–110 cm above mean sea level) and for seeds sown at intermediate depths (1.5 cm; statistical significance not assessed). The average height of surviving cordgrass plants was 1–2 cm one month after planting, then 8–15 cm six months after planting (with taller plants at the higher elevations). After two growing seasons, sown cordgrass only persisted at the highest elevation, and here in only 50% of plots. These plots had also been colonized by new cordgrasses and saltworts Salicornia spp. (not quantified). Methods: In April 1981, field-collected common cordgrass seeds were sown into one hundred and eighty 0.25-m² plots (20 seeds/plot). The plots were on a mudflat, below a cordgrass-dominated salt marsh. They were arranged in five groups of 36 plots, with each group at a different elevation (42–110 cm above mean sea level). One third of the seeds (12 plots/group) were sown at each of three depths (0.5, 1.5 or 3.0 cm). The presence and height of cordgrass plants were monitored between May and November 1981. Plot-level survival was monitored in July 1982.

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)