Patch Dynamics of a New England Salt Marsh Plant Community

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This research will examine marsh secondary succession and the role of clonal integration of marsh plant populations in dictating marsh plant disturbance dynamics. Specifically, the following will be done: 1) Examine the generation and causes of variation in the edaphic conditions of marsh bare patches, 2) Explicitly test the hypothesis that the occurrence of interspecific competitive and facilitative interactions during secondary succession is dependent on local edaphic conditions, and 3) Evaluate the role of inter- and intraspecific variation in the morphology, clonal integration, and salt tolerance of marsh perrenials in resisting and responding to disturbance events. In addition to elucidating the dynamics of a widespread native plant community, this research will contribute to understanding a number of previously unexplored aspects of the organization of assemblages dominated by clonal organisms, and provide a rare experimental study of the relative importance of competitive and facilitative interactions in plant community process and pattern.