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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Topography And Disturbance Influence Trait‐Based Composition And Productivity Of Adjacent Habitats In A Coastal System, Joseph K. Brown, Julie C. Zinnert
Topography And Disturbance Influence Trait‐Based Composition And Productivity Of Adjacent Habitats In A Coastal System, Joseph K. Brown, Julie C. Zinnert
Biology Publications
Coastal systems experience frequent disturbance and multiple environmental stressors over short spatial and temporal scales. Investigating functional traits in coastal systems has the potential to inform how variation in disturbance frequency and environmental variables influence differences in trait‐based community composition and ecosystem function. Our goals were to (1) quantify trait‐based communities on two barrier islands divergent in topography and long‐term disturbance response and (2) determine relationships between community trait‐based composition and ecosystem productivity. We hypothesized that locations documented with high disturbance would have habitats with similar environmental conditions and trait‐based communities, with the opposite relationship in low‐disturbance locations. Furthermore, we …
Stimulated Growth Response To Sand Burial Of A Coastal Shrub, D. Nicole Keller
Stimulated Growth Response To Sand Burial Of A Coastal Shrub, D. Nicole Keller
Theses and Dissertations
Drivers of vegetation zonation on barrier islands are complex and interconnected. Sand burial is a strong driver in dynamic coastal systems, especially in the foredune community. However, it is not well understood how burial impacts the interdunal swales communities and it is especially difficult to separate the effects of burial from salinity. Climate change is altering the frequency of overwash events as well as expanding the range of the native shrub, Morella cerifera, on the Virginia barrier islands. To accurately forecast island response to climate change it is important to understand how the shrub responds to sand burial. Juvenile …