Dissertation Research: Seed Supply, Habitat Suitability, and the Distribution of Halophytic Forbs Across a Salt Marsh Landscape

9801521伯尔蒂斯和兰德这项研究将研究多种生态因素如何共同作用，构建一个盐生杂草群落，称为新英格兰鹅卵石滩群落。这种独特的河口栖息地位于从长岛海湾到缅因州北部的中等保护海岸线上。它由密集的杂草组成，局限于互花米草床后的地点。这项研究的目的之一是阐明种子供应和扩散后环境在确定沼泽区植物分布和丰度模式方面的相对作用。另一个目标是研究扩散后因素、生物相互作用和生理压力对这些模式的相对影响，并特别注意它们的潜在相互作用。这项研究的结果将为我们提供对这一独特植物群落的异常完整的了解，并进一步加深我们对稀疏分布植物种群的理解。

9801521 Bertness and Rand This research will examine how multiple ecological factors work together to structure a community of halophytic forbs known as the New England cobble beach community. This unique estuarine habitat is found along moderately protected coastlines from Long Island Sound to northern Maine. It comprises a dense assemblage of forbs restricted to sites behind beds of the grass Spartina alterniflora. One goal of the study is to elucidate the relative roles of seed supply and post-dispersal environment in setting patterns of plant distribution and abundance across marsh zones. Another goal is to examine the relative effects of post-dispersal factors, biotic interactions and physiological stress, on these patterns, with particular attention given to their potential interactions. Results from this study will provide an unusually complete understanding of this unique plant community and further our understanding of populations of sparsely distributed plants.