Floristic shifts in wetlands: the effects of environmental variables on the interaction between Phragmites australis (Common Reed) and Melaleuca ericifolia (Swamp Paperbark)

Full text for this resource is not available from the Research Repository.

Morris, Kay, Boon, Paul I, Raulings, Elisa J and White, Sean D (2008) Floristic shifts in wetlands: the effects of environmental variables on the interaction between Phragmites australis (Common Reed) and Melaleuca ericifolia (Swamp Paperbark). Marine and Freshwater Research, 59. pp. 187-204. ISSN 1323-1650

Abstract

Over the past 40–50 years, the woody shrub Melaleuca ericifolia has progressively invaded large areas of Phragmites australis in Dowd Morass, a Ramsar-listed, brackish wetland in south-eastern Australia. To understand the processes underlying this shift we grew Phragmites and Melaleuca alone and together under contrasting sediment organic-matter loadings and salinities. To examine if the capacity of Phragmites to aerate the sediment influenced plant interactions, we also dissipated convective gas flow in some Phragmites plants by perforating their stems. Although Phragmites suppressed the growth of Melaleuca under all conditions, Melaleuca persisted. We did not find Phragmites ramets to be more sensitive to salinity than Melaleuca seedlings. Surprisingly Phragmites did not increase sediment redox and was more sensitive to increased organic-matter loading than Melaleuca. These results do not support the notion that colonisation by Melaleuca was facilitated by a decline in Phragmites at higher salinities or through aeration of the sediments by Phragmites. Seedlings of Melaleuca, however,were easily blown over by wind and it is likely that Phragmites stands shelter Melaleuca during establishment. Although our short-term experiment did not show that Melaleuca was a better competitor, differences in seasonal growth patterns may contribute to a shift in competitive abilities over a longer time scale.

Dimensions Badge

Altmetric Badge

Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/3850
DOI 10.1071/MF07072
Official URL http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF07072
Subjects Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > Institute for Sustainability and Innovation (ISI)
Historical > FOR Classification > 0501 Ecological Applications
Historical > SEO Classification > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation
Keywords ResPubID14794, cellulose, convective gas flow, Gippsland Lakes, redox potential, salinity, soil oxygenation
Citations in Scopus 15 - View on Scopus
Download/View statistics View download statistics for this item

Search Google Scholar

Repository staff login