Abstract
Revegetation is described for a portion of a Taxodium distichum-Nyssa aquatica (bald cypress-water tupelo) forested wetland in South Carolina. Thermal effluent from nuclear production reactors from 1954 to 1968 eliminated most of the original vegetation from the study area. Vegetation in disturbed and adjacent undisturbed areas was sampled in 1981 and 1985 using permanent plots. Herbs invaded rapidly throughout the disturbed portion of the wetland after thermal discharge ceased. Shrubs (Salix spp. and Cephalanthus occidentalis) followed soon thereafter, and have gradually occupied more of the area. Taxodium and Nyssa regeneration is rare because of the inability of seedlings of these species to compete with the dense cover of herbs and shrubs. Species composition is correlated with water depth, substrate type, and severity of disturbance. Because of substrate diversity, several successional mechanisms may account for the revegetation patterns.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- DCA:
-
Detrended Correspondence Analysis
References
Connell J. H. & Slatyer R. O. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am. Nat. 111: 1119–1144.
Conner W. H., Gosselink J. G. & Parrondo R. T. 1981. Comparison of the vegetation of three Louisiana swamp sites with different flooding regimes. Am. J. Bot. 68: 320–331.
Conner W. H., Toliver J. R. & Sklar F. H. 1986. Natural regeneration of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) in a Louisiana swamp. For. Ecol. Manage. 14: 305–317.
Cowardin L. M., Carter V., Golet F. C. & LaRoe E. T. 1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, D.C.
Cypert E. 1961. The effects of fire in the Okefenokee Swamp in 1954 and 1955. Am. Midl. Nat. 66: 485–503.
Demaree D. 1932. Submerging experiments with Taxodium. Ecology 13: 258–262.
Egler F. E. 1954. Vegetation science concepts I. Initial floristics composition, a factor in old-field vegetation development. Vegetatio 4: 412–417.
Ewel K. C. & Odum H. T. (eds), 1984. Cypress swamps. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Finegan B. 1984. Forest succession. Nature 311: 109–114.
Gunderson L. H. 1984. Regeneration of cypress in logged and burned stands at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida. In: Ewel K. C. & Odum H. T. (eds), Cypress swamps, pp. 349–357. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Hill M. O. 1979. DECORANA: a FORTRAN program for detrended correspondence analysis and reciprocal averaging. Cornell University, Ithaca.
Huenneke L. F. & Sharitz R. R. 1986. Microsite abundance and the distribution of woody seedlings in a South Carolina cypress-tupelo swamp. Am. Midl. Nat. 115: 328–335.
McIntosh R. P. 1980. The relationship between succession and the recovery process in ecosystems. In: CairnsJr. J. (ed.), The recovery process in damaged ecosystems, pp. 11–62. Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Peet R. K. & Christensen N. L. 1980. Succession: a population process. Vegetatio 43: 131–140.
Pielou E. C. 1984. The interpretation of ecological data. Wiley, New York.
Sharitz R. R., Irwin J. E. & Christy E. J. 1974. Vegetation of swamps receiving reactor effluents. Oikos 25: 7–13.
Smith, M. H., Sharitz, R. R. & Gladden, J. B. 1981. An evaluation of the Steel Creek ecosystem in relation to the proposed restart of L-Reactor. Savannah Riv. Ecol. Lab. Rep. SREL-9, Aiken, South Carolina.
Zar J. H. 1974. Biostatistical analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dunn, C.P., Sharitz, R.R. Revegetation of a Taxodium-Nyssa forested wetland following complete vegetation destruction. Vegetatio 72, 151–157 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00039836
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00039836