Vegetation and water characteristics of floating mat in a coastal lagoon as the habitat for endangered plant species

Abstract

Background: To understand the ecological characteristics of floating mat in which endangered species of Iris laevigata and Menyanthes trifoliata inhabit, we surveyed the vegetation and water environments of a floating mat wetland and examined the relations between ecological characteristics of the mat. Results: Although Phragmites australis and Zizania latifolia were found at all experimental quadrats (n = 61) as the major vegetational components of the floating mat wetland, they showed relatively poor growth performances in terms of shoot height (< 2 m) and biomass production (< 300 g/m 2) compared with those in soil-based wetlands because of oligotrophic water condition. The competitiveness and distribution of P. australis and Z. latifolia seemed to be determined by water level difference by micro-topography rather than water chemistry. Conclusion: P. australis and endangered plant species mainly occurred in the area of relatively shallow water, whereas Z. latifolia and deep-water species such as Scirpus fluviatilis mostly inhabit in the area of deep water on the floating mat. Continuously maintained water level and oligotrophic water condition in the floating mat appeared to be important environments for endangered species such as I. laevigata and M. trifoliata.

Differences in functional traits of leaf blade and culm of common reed in four habitat types

“…As similar in other countries, P. australis functions with various ways in wetland ecosystems of Korea (Asaeda and Karunaratne 2006;Köbbing et al 2013;Hong et al 2018;Nam et al 2018b). As well as natural wetlands of various types, P. australis mainly constitutes the vegetational components of artificial wetlands for water purification and ground stabilization because of high productivity and environmental tolerances (Hong et al 2014b;Nam et al 2018b).…”

“…As well as natural wetlands of various types, P. australis mainly constitutes the vegetational components of artificial wetlands for water purification and ground stabilization because of high productivity and environmental tolerances (Hong et al 2014b;Nam et al 2018b). Phragmites australis of high buoyancy and salt tolerance plays a critical role as the major component of floating marshes and salt marshes in Korea (Hong et al 2018;Nam et al 2018a). In particular, it has been reported that floating mats composed mainly by P. australis could stably provide habitats for diverse endangered species (Kim et al 2013;Hong et al 2018).…”

“…Phragmites australis of high buoyancy and salt tolerance plays a critical role as the major component of floating marshes and salt marshes in Korea (Hong et al 2018;Nam et al 2018a). In particular, it has been reported that floating mats composed mainly by P. australis could stably provide habitats for diverse endangered species (Kim et al 2013;Hong et al 2018).…”

“…Different morphology and/or population structure of a species could determine functions differently, and such different functions, in turn, affect services and value of ecosystems (Hong et al 2018;Park et al 2018). Thus, studies on the differences in morphology and/or population structure are of importance in understanding ecological roles of a certain species particularly in various habitat types.…”

“…Hong and Kim (2011) also reported that P. australis could show different functional traits depending on the habitat type. Hong et al (2018) noted that P. australis could inhabit in oligotrophic water conditions. Although numerous studies have been conducted to understand the functional traits of P. australis in Korea, most of the previous studies mainly focused on quantitative indices related to productivity such as shoot height, density, and biomass production in relations to environmental gradients and differences (Lee and Yang 1993;Hong and Kim 2011;Hong et al 2014aHong et al , 2018.…”