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

9801521伯特尼斯和兰德 本研究将探讨多种生态因素如何共同作用，以构建一个社区的盐生杂类草被称为新英格兰鹅卵石海滩社区。这种独特的河口栖息地被发现沿着适度保护的海岸线从长岛海峡到北方缅因州。 它包括一个密集的杂类草组合，仅限于草互花米草床后面的网站。 研究的一个目标是阐明种子供应和后扩散环境在设置模式的植物分布和丰富的沼泽地带的相对作用。另一个目标是研究后扩散因素，生物相互作用和生理压力，对这些模式的相对影响，特别注意其潜在的相互作用。这项研究的结果将提供一个不寻常的完整了解这个独特的植物群落，并进一步了解人口稀疏分布的植物。

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.