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Population Characteristics, Growth, and Survival of the Halophyte Salicornia Europaea
Author(s) -
Ungar Irwin A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1938462
Subject(s) - biology , halophyte , abiotic component , salinity , habitat , salt marsh , population , botany , ecology , agronomy , demography , sociology
The morphological characteristics of plants from three populations of Salicornia europaea along a salinity gradient are described. Plants from these populations differed in a number of characteristics including plant height, dry mass, branch number, flowering branch number, and flowering internode number. Reciprocal transplants were made between the Edge and Tall populations, and at the fruiting stage these transplants still resembled plants from their source more closely than those in the new site. Greenhouse transplants from the Tall, Very Tall, and Edge populations proved to be plastic in their growth responses depending on their time of transplant. Mortality was greatest in the Pan Zone, which had the highest soil salinity stress. Density—dependent factors did not explain a significant portion of mortality, indicating that abiotic stress was the primary factor determining mortality in this system. A persistent seed bank of small seed of S. europaea plays a significant role in maintaining plant populations in this highly stressful salt marsh habitat.