Hydrology Drives Vegetation Succession in a Tidal Freshwater Wetland of Subtropical Taiwan

The relationships between vegetation communities and environmental variables in tropical/subtropical tidal freshwater wetlands are poorly understood. We tracked the vegetation succession of the Huajiang wetland in northern Taiwan for 10 years since its emergence in 2000, likely due to massive sedime...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.) N.C.), 2016-12, Vol.36 (6), p.1109-1117
Main Authors: Lin, Hsing-Juh, Huang, Chun-Han, Hwang, Gwo-Wen, Hsu, Chorng-Bin, Chen, Chang-Po, Hsieh, Hwey-Lian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic plants
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Coastal Sciences
Creeks & streams
Ecological succession
Ecology
Environmental Management
Floods
Flowers & plants
Fresh water
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Hydrogeology
Hydrology
Landscape Ecology
Life Sciences
Moisture content
Original Research
Phragmites australis
Precipitation
Rivers
Sedimentation & deposition
Sediments
Soil moisture
Soil water
Typhoons
Vegetation
Water content
Wetlands
Woody plants
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Summary:The relationships between vegetation communities and environmental variables in tropical/subtropical tidal freshwater wetlands are poorly understood. We tracked the vegetation succession of the Huajiang wetland in northern Taiwan for 10 years since its emergence in 2000, likely due to massive sediment deposition caused by typhoon floods. The aquatic plant Phragmites australis expanded and dominated the wetland within the first four years, after which terrestrial herbaceous plants appeared. In 2007, woody plants were found scattered in the wetland. In 2010, the vegetation communities became more diverse. Along the gradient of increasing elevation with decreasing soil water content, three vegetation zones were distinguished: aquatic, terrestrial, and transitional. Along the second gradient of distances from the nearest tidal creek, the transitional zone could be further differentiated into more aquatic and more terrestrial zones. Our results indicate that hydrology engaging soil moisture and sedimentation was the major force driving the vegetation succession in the tidal freshwater wetland. These findings suggest that the vegetation community in tidal freshwater wetlands can be used as an indicator to monitor management measures and assess the impacts within the wetland and catchment.
ISSN:0277-5212
1943-6246
DOI:10.1007/s13157-016-0828-6