Impact of Water Level on Species Quantity and Composition Grown from the Soil Seed Bank of the Inland Salt Marsh: An Ex-Situ Experiment

Eva Čížková, Jana Navrátilová, Stanislav Martinát, Josef Navrátil and Ryan J. Frazier
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Eva Čížková: Department of Biological Studies, Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia, Studentská 1668, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Jana Navrátilová: Department of Experimental Garden and Collection of Aquatic and Wetland Plants, Institute of Botany CAS, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 01 Třeboň, Czech Republic
Stanislav Martinát: Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 12, CZ-771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Josef Navrátil: Department of Biological Studies, Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia, Studentská 1668, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Ryan J. Frazier: Geography, Environment, and Sustainability Department, Weber State University, 1299 Edvalson St., 1210, Ogden, UT 84408, USA

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: The near elimination of inland salt marshes in Central Europe occurred throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and the currently remaining marshes exist in a degraded condition. This work examines the impact of groundwater level on the growth of plants from a seed bank obtained from a degraded salt marsh in proximity to still existing one through an ex-situ experiment. An experimental tank was set up with the sample seed bank experiencing differing levels of water level. There were 1233 specimens of 44 taxa grown from the seed bank, of which 5 species were abundant, and 10 species are considered as halophytes. Only Lotus tenuis from halophytes was more abundant, and only five species of halophytes were represented by more than three individuals. The water level has a significant impact on the number of species (based on linear regression analysis) as well as species distribution among different water level treatments (a non-metric multidimensional analysis (nMDS) followed by linear regression). The results show a strong negative relationship between the average water level and the number of species. The water level did not affect the species composition of halophytes, but differences in individual species abundances were found among the halophytes. The species Bupleurum tenuissimum , Crypsis schoenoides , Melilotus dentatus , and Plantago maritima grew on the drier and non-inundated soils. Tripolium pannonicum , Spergularia maritima , and Lotus tenuis grew on both wet and dry soils. Trifolium fragiferum and Bolboschoenus maritimus were found in places with water stagnant at the soil level. Pulicaria dysenterica grew in inundated soil.

Keywords: land use; restoration; soil; salt marshes; water level; vegetation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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