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Effects of tephra deposition on mire vegetation: a field experiment in Hokkaido, Japan
Author(s) -
HOTES S.,
POSCHLOD P.,
TAKAHASHI H.,
GROOTJANS A. P.,
ADEMA E.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.452
H-Index - 181
eISSN - 1365-2745
pISSN - 0022-0477
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-0477.2004.00901.x
Subject(s) - mire , tephra , sphagnum , vegetation (pathology) , environmental science , growing season , deposition (geology) , peat , moss , geology , physical geography , hydrology (agriculture) , volcano , ecology , geography , geochemistry , geomorphology , biology , medicine , pathology , sediment , geotechnical engineering
Summary1 The influence of tephra (aerially transported volcanic ejecta) on mire vegetation was investigated in a field experiment at Sarobetsu Mire, northern Hokkaido, Japan, which simulated relatively thin, widespread tephras. It was carried out in the centre of a raised part of the mire in a Carex middendorffii – Sphagnum papillosum community. 2 We tested the effects of varying tephra layer thickness, grain size and season of the simulated tephra impact. 3 Vegetation surveys and analyses of the mire pore water were carried out before and 1 and 2 years after tephra application. Redox potential, oxygen saturation and sulphide concentration were measured in the surface layer of selected plots after 10 months. 4 Pore water chemistry and oxygen saturation changed significantly in some treatments. Some plant species disappeared from certain treatments after tephra application, but the majority survived. Colonization by non‐mire species played a significant role in only one treatment. Mosses were more strongly affected by the disturbance than vascular plants. 5 Tephra had stronger effects on the vegetation when layers were thicker, were more fine‐grained and when applied at the beginning rather than at the end of the growing season. 6 Moderate tephra deposition is unlikely to cause long‐term changes in mire development. Subsequent succession depends on properties of the tephra, on the vegetation type (e.g. life‐forms) and on the season, but the original vegetation will probably recover even where the moss layer is severely damaged, as Sphagnum spp. can re‐establish by growing through tephra at least up to 6 cm thick.