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

[801521] Bertness and Rand这项研究将研究多种生态因素如何共同作用，以构建一个被称为新英格兰鹅卵石海滩群落的盐生植物群落。这个独特的河口栖息地位于从长岛湾到缅因州北部受到适度保护的海岸线上。它包括一个密集的植物组合，局限于草互花米草床后面的地点。该研究的目的之一是阐明种子供应和传播后环境在设置沼泽地带植物分布和丰度模式中的相对作用。另一个目标是审查扩散后因素、生物相互作用和生理压力对这些模式的相对影响，特别注意它们的潜在相互作用。本研究的结果将对这一独特的植物群落提供一个异常完整的认识，并进一步加深我们对稀疏分布植物种群的认识。

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.