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The Combined Effects Of Salinity And Sulfide On The Growth And Physiology Of The Freshwater Marsh Plant Pancium Hemitomon J.A. Schultes, James Wesley Pahl

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Vegetative response to saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater wetlands is governed by the combined effects of increased salinity and porewater sulfide concentrations. I conducted a series of experiments to address the primary hypothesis that growth of Panicum hemitomon is adversely affected by an interaction between salinity and sulfide stresses associated with saltwater intrusion, and the mechanisms for decreased growth are alterations in the metabolic and morphological adaptations needed for a plant to survive in a flooded environment. I exposed marsh sods to a factorial treatment arrangement of three salinities (0, 2, and 4 ppt) and three porewater sulfide concentrations (0, …