PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #37: Aquatic Ecology: Macrophytes. Presiding: J. Titus.
Tuesday, August 7, 2001. 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Hall of Ideas I.
Plant community responses to decreasing water levels at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, Huron, OH.
Trexel, Dawn1, Francko, David1, 1
ABSTRACT- Knowledge of system dynamics and responses to disturbance regimes is important for the management and protection of Great Lakes coastal wetlands. One of the most important abiotic factors that determine the vegetation composition in coastal wetlands is the water level. In recent years, water levels at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve (OWC) have been decreasing due to reduced water levels in Lake Erie. As a result, expansive mudflats have formed within the wetland. During the summer of 2000, preliminary fieldwork was conducted to examine the vegetation composition on the mudflats. From this fieldwork, two general observations can be made: 1) monitored stands of Phragmites australis expanded 3 to 17m into the estuary, and 2) more than twenty-five plant species were observed growing on the mudflats, the dominant species being two grasses: Leersia oryzoides and Echinochloa spp. Many of these species were not present in these areas when water levels were higher. The goal of this preliminary work and subsequent work to be carried out during the summer of 2001 is directed toward clarifying the ramifications of fluctuating water levels in the management and restoration of coastal wetlands, especially regarding invasive species.
KEY WORDS: wetlands, great lakes, water levels