Details
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Seiten (von - bis) | 1579-1589 |
| Seitenumfang | 11 |
| Fachzeitschrift | Ecology and evolution |
| Jahrgang | 6 |
| Ausgabenummer | 6 |
| Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 1 März 2016 |
Abstract
By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus' ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross-shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross-shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities.
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Agrar- und Biowissenschaften (insg.)
- Ökologie, Evolution, Verhaltenswissenschaften und Systematik
- Umweltwissenschaften (insg.)
- Ökologie
- Umweltwissenschaften (insg.)
- Natur- und Landschaftsschutz
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in: Ecology and evolution, Jahrgang 6, Nr. 6, 01.03.2016, S. 1579-1589.
Publikation: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift › Artikel › Forschung › Peer-Review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Vegetation as self-adaptive coastal protection
T2 - Reduction of current velocity and morphologic plasticity of a brackish marsh pioneer
AU - Carus, Jana
AU - Paul, Maike
AU - Schröder, Boris
N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the research programmeKLIWAS (Impacts of climate change on waterways andnavigation–Searching for options of adaptation) of theGerman Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infras-tructure (BMVI). Special thanks to all the people whohelped with the fieldwork and to T. Lautenschl€ager andP. Br€auer from the TU Dresden for performing thebiomechanic measurements. We furthermore thank C.Maushake and B. Kondziella from the Federal WaterwayEngineering and Research Institute (BAW) for the provi-sion of the ADV devices and useful information on their application. BS acknowledges funding by the GermanScience Foundation (grants nos. SCHR1000/6-2 andSCHR1000/8-2) as well as by the Federal Ministry ofEducation and Research (project COMTESS–SustainableCoastal Land Management: Trade-offs in EcosystemServices, grant no. 01LL0911C). MP acknowledgesfunding by the German Science Foundation (grant no.PA 2547/1-1).
PY - 2016/3/1
Y1 - 2016/3/1
N2 - By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus' ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross-shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross-shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities.
AB - By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus' ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross-shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross-shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities.
KW - Bolboschoenus maritimus
KW - Adaptive value
KW - Brackish marsh
KW - Flow velocity
KW - Mechanical pressure
KW - Morphological adaptation
KW - Phenotypic plasticity
KW - Pioneer zone
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961200857&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.1904
DO - 10.1002/ece3.1904
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84961200857
VL - 6
SP - 1579
EP - 1589
JO - Ecology and evolution
JF - Ecology and evolution
SN - 2045-7758
IS - 6
ER -