Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
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 …
Mechanisms Of Surviving Burial: Dune Grass Interspecific Differences Drive Resource Allocation After Sand Deposition, Joseph K. Brown, Julie C. Zinnert
Mechanisms Of Surviving Burial: Dune Grass Interspecific Differences Drive Resource Allocation After Sand Deposition, Joseph K. Brown, Julie C. Zinnert
Biology Publications
Sand dunes are important geomorphic formations of coastal ecosystems that are critical in protecting human populations that live in coastal areas. Dune formation is driven by ecomorphodynamic interactions between vegetation and sediment deposition. While there has been extensive research on responses of dune grasses to sand burial, there is a knowledge gap in understanding mechanisms of acclimation between similar, coexistent, dune-building grasses such as Ammophila breviligulata (C3), Spartina patens (C4), and Uniola paniculata (C4). Our goal was to determine how physiological mechanisms of acclimation to sand burial vary between species. We hypothesize that (1) …