Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Vegetation Dynamics in a Tidal Freshwater Wetland: A Long-Term Study at Differing Scales

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tidal freshwater wetlands are complex, species-rich ecosystems located at the interface between tidal estuaries and nontidal rivers. This study conducted on the Patuxent River estuary in Maryland was designed to assess vegetation dynamics over several decades to determine if there were directional changes in the dominant communities. Aerial photographs (1970, 1989, and 2007) documented broad-scale spatial changes in major plant communities. The coverage of areas dominated by Nuphar lutea and Phragmites australis expanded; mixed vegetation and scrub–shrub habitats were essentially unchanged; and Typha and Zizania aquatica communities fluctuated in coverage. Data collected between 1988 and 2010 from permanent plots and transects were used to examine fine-scale changes. Shifts in the importance of some species through time were observed, but there were no directional changes in community species composition. The lack of directional change as measured at a fine scale is characteristic of tidal freshwater wetlands in which variations in the abundance of individual species, especially annuals, are responsible for most short-term change in species composition. Changes in the composition of plant communities are interpreted as responses to variations in vertical accretion, stability of habitat types, invasive plant species, and herbivores. In the future, vegetation changes are likely to occur as a result of the intrusion of brackish water and increased flooding associated with global climate change and sea level rise. This long-term study establishes a baseline from which potential future changes to tidal freshwater wetlands can be better understood.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (France)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, R.R., R.G. Brown, and R.D. Rappleye. 1968. Water quality and plant distribution along the upper Patuxent River, Maryland. Chesapeake Science 9: 145–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baden III, J., W.T. Batson, and R. Salter. 1975. Factors affecting the distribution of vegetation of abandoned rice fields, Georgetown, Co., South Carolina. Castanea 40: 171–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, A.H., M.S. Egnotovich, and E. Clarke. 2001. Hydrologic change and vegetation of tidal freshwater marshes: Field, greenhouse, and seed bank experiments. Wetlands 21: 519–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barendregt, A., P. Gloer, and F. Saris. 2009. Ecological consequences of a change in tidal amplitude in tidal freshwater wetlands. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 185–196. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, D.F. (ed.). 2008. Global Warming and the Free State: Comprehensive Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Maryland. Report of the Scientific and Technical Working Group of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. Cambridge: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boon, J.D., J.M. Brubaker, and D.R. Forrest. 2010. Chesapeake Bay Land Subsidence and Sea Level Change: An Evaluation of Past and Present Trends and Future Outlook. Report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District, VA. Special Report No. 425. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia.

  • Boynton, W.R., J. Hagy, J. Cornwell, W.M. Kemp, S. Greene, M. Owens, J. Baker, and R. Larsen. 2008. Nutrient budgets and management actions in the Patuxent River estuary, Maryland. Estuaries and Coasts 31: 623–651.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brinson, M.B., H.D. Bradshaw, and M.N. Jones. 1985. Transitions in forested wetlands along gradients of salinity and hydroperiod. Journal of the Elisah Mitchell Scientific Society 101: 76–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K.J., and G.B. Pasternack. 2005. A paleoenvironmental reconstruction to aid in the restoration of floodplain and wetland habitats on an upper deltaic plain, California, USA. Environmental Conservation 32: 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casey, W.P., and K.C. Ewel. 2006. Patterns of succession in forested depressional wetlands in north Florida, USA. Wetlands 26: 147–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesapeake Bay Program. 2011. CBP Water Quality Database (1984–present). http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data_waterquality.aspx. Accessed December 2011.

  • Connors, L.M., E. Kiviat, P.M. Groffman, and R.S. Ostfeld. 2000. Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) disturbance to vegetation and potential net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates in a freshwater tidal marsh. American Midland Naturalist 143: 53–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, G.W. 1985. Laboratory Manual of General Ecology, 5th ed. Dubuque: Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crain, C.M., B.R. Silliman, S.L. Bertness, and M.D. Bertness. 2004. Physical and biotic drivers of plant distribution across estuarine salinity gradients. Ecology 85: 2539–2549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czerepko, J. 2008. A long-term study of successional dynamics in the forest wetlands. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 630–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field, R.T., and K.R. Philip. 2000. Vegetation changes in the freshwater tidal marsh of the Delaware estuary. Wetlands Ecology and Management 8: 79–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haramis, G.M., and G.D. Kearns. 2007. Herbivory by resident geese: The loss and recovery of wild rice along the tidal Patuxent River, Maryland. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 788–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinle, D.R., and D.A. Flemer. 1976. Flows of materials between poorly flooded tidal marshes and an estuary. Marine Biology 35: 359–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higinbotham, C.B., M. Alber, and A.G. Chalmers. 2004. Analysis of tidal marsh vegetation patterns in two Georgia estuaries using aerial photography and GIS. Estuaries 27: 670–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilgartner, W.B., and G.S. Brush. 2006. Prehistoric habitat stability and post-settlement habitat change in a Chesapeake Bay freshwater tidal wetland, USA. The Holocene 16: 479–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, T.E., and D.F. Whigham. 1988. The importance of standing dead shoots of the narrow leaved cattail—Typha angustifolia. Aquatic Botany 29: 310–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, H., and G. Brush. 1994. Nutrient and metal accumulation in a freshwater tidal marsh. Estuaries 17: 345–360.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kouki, J. 1993. Herbivory modifies the production of different leaf types in yellow water-lily, Nuphar lutea (Nymphaeaceae). Functional Ecology 7: 21–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krauss, K.W., and J.A. Duberstein. 2010. Sapflow and water use of freshwater wetland trees exposed to saltwater incursion in a tidally influenced South Carolina watershed. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 40: 525–535.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leck, M.A., and C.M. Crain. 2009. Northeastern North America case studies—New Jersey and New England. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D.F. Whigham, and A.H. Baldwin, 145–156. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leck, M.A., and R.L. Simpson. 1995. Ten-year seed bank and vegetation dynamics of a tidal freshwater marsh. American Journal of Botany 82: 1547–1557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leck, M.A., A.H. Baldwin, V.T. Parker, L. Schile, and D.F. Whigham. 2009. Plant communities of tidal freshwater wetland of the continental USA and southeastern Canada. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D.F. Whigham, and A.H. Baldwin, 41–58. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, J.J., T. O’Neal, and D.W. Lay. 1947. Management significance of damage by geese and muskrats to gulf coast marshes. Journal of Wildlife Management 11: 50–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, J., and H.A. Somes Jr. 1982. The Coastal Wetlands of Maryland. Chevy Chase: Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune, B., and M.J. Medford. 2006. PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data, version 5.18. MJM software. Oregon: Gleneden Beach.

  • Meyerson, L.A., K. Saltonstall, L. Windham, E. Kiviat, and S. Findlay. 2000. A comparison of Phragmites australis in freshwater and brackish marsh environments in North America. Wetlands Ecology and Management 8: 89–103.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neubauer, S.C., and C. Craft. 2009. Global change and tidal freshwater wetlands: Scenarios and impacts. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 353–366. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neubauer, S.C., I.C. Anderson, J.A. Constantine, and S.A. Kuehl. 2002. Sediment deposition and accretion in a mid-Atlantic (U.S.A.) tidal freshwater marsh. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 54: 713–727.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 2012. Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Estuarine Research Reserve System-wide Monitoring Program. Centralized Data Management Office, Baruch Marine Field Lab, University of South Carolina. http://cdmo.baruch.sc.edu. Accessed December 2011.

  • Odum, W.E., T.J. Smith, J.K. Hoover, and C.C. McIvor. 1984. The Ecology of Tidal Freshwater Marshes of the United States East Coast: A Community Profile. Washington: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS/OBS-83/17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Odum, W.E. 1988. Comparative ecology of tidal freshwater and salt marshes. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19: 147–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orson, R.A., R.L. Simpson, and R.E. Good. 1990. Rates of sediment accumulation in a tidal freshwater marsh. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 60: 859–869.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orson, R.A., R.L. Simpson, and R.E. Good. 1992. The paleoecological development of a late Holocene, tidal freshwater marsh of the upper Delaware River Estuary. Estuaries 15: 130–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasternack, G.B. 2009. Hydrogeomorphology and sedimentation in tidal freshwater wetlands. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 31–41. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasternack, G.B., and G.S. Brush. 1998. Sedimentation cycles in a river-mouth tidal freshwater marsh. Estuaries 21: 407–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasternack, G.B., W.B. Hilgartner, and G.S. Brush. 2000. Biogeomorphology of an upper Chesapeake Bay river-mouth tidal freshwater marsh. Wetlands 20: 520–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasternack, G.B., and G.S. Brush. 2001. Seasonal variations in sedimentation and organic content in five plant associations on a Chesapeake Bay tidal freshwater marsh. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 53: 93–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasternack, G.B., and G.S. Brush. 2002. Biogeomorphic controls on sedimentation and substrate on a vegetated tidal freshwater delta in upper Chesapeake Bay. Geomorphology 43: 293–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, J.E., and C.H. Hershner. 1999. Temporal changes in the vegetation pattern in a tidal freshwater marsh. Wetlands 19: 90–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, J.E., D.M. Bilkovic, K.J. Havens, and C.H. Hershner. 2009. Tidal freshwater wetlands of the mid-Atlantic and southeastern Unites States. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 157–166. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rheinhardt, R.D. 1992. Multivariate analysis of vegetation patterns in tidal freshwater swamps of lower Chesapeake Bay, USA. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 119: 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, D., J. Rooth, and J.C. Stevenson. 2000. Colonization and expansion of Phragmites australis in upper Chesapeake Bay tidal marshes. Wetlands 20: 280–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricklefs, R.E. 1990. Ecology. New York: W.H. Freeman.

  • Salter, R., and J. Baden. 1994. A twenty-year comparison of vegetation of three abandoned rice fields, Georgetown County, South Carolina. Castanea 59: 69–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scavia, D., J.C. Field, D.F. Boesch, R.W. Buddemeier, V. Burkett, D.R. Cayan, M. Fogarty, M.A. Harwell, R.W. Howarth, C. Mason, D.J. Reed, T.C. Royer, A.H. Sallenger, and J.G. Titus. 2002. Climate change impacts on U.S. coastal and marine ecosystems. Estuaries 25: 149–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuyler, A.E., A.B. Anderson, and V.J. Kolaga. 1993. Plant zonation changes in the tidal portion of the Delaware River. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 144: 263–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scofield, C.S. 1905. The salt water limits of wild rice. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin No. 72.

  • Sharpe, P.J., and A.H. Baldwin. 2009. Patterns of wetland plant species richness across estuarine gradients of Chesapeake Bay. Wetlands 29: 225–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, R.L., R.E. Good, M.A. Leck, and D.F. Whigham. 1983. The ecology of freshwater tidal wetlands. BioScience 34: 255–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S.M., M. Hanley, and K.T. Killingbeck. 2008. Development of vegetation in dune slack wetlands of Cape Cod National Seashore (Massachusetts, USA). Plant Ecology 194: 243–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stribling, J.M., J.C. Cornwell, and O.A. Glahn. 2007. Microtopography in tidal marshes: Ecosystem engineering by vegetation? Estuaries and Coasts 30: 1007–1015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stroh, C.L., D. De Steven, and G.R. Guntenspergen. 2008. Effect of climate fluctuations on long-term vegetation dynamics in Carolina Bay wetlands. Wetlands 28: 17–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2011. Plants database. http://www.plants.usda.gov. Accessed December 2011.

  • US Geological Survey (USGS). 2011. USGS real-time water data for the nation. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?01594440. Accessed December 2011.

  • Van den Bergh, E., A. Garniel, R.K.A. Morris, and A. Barendregt. 2009. Conservation of tidal freshwater wetlands in Europe. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 241–252. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Valk, A.G. 1981. Succession in wetlands: A Gleasonian approach. Ecology 62: 688–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whigham, D.F., and R.L. Simpson. 1978. Nitrogen and phosphorus movement in a freshwater tidal wetland receiving sewage effluent. Proceedings of Coastal Zone ‘78 Symposium on Technological, Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Regulatory Aspects of Coastal Zone Management, Vol. III, American Society of Civil Engineering, New York, pp. 2189–2203.

  • Whigham, D.F., A.H. Baldwin, and C.W. Swarth. 2009. Conservation of tidal freshwater wetlands in North America. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 267–270. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zervas, C. 2001. Sea level variation of the United States, 1854–1999. Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce, Silver Spring, MD. NOAA Technical Report NOS CO-OPS 36, 66 pp.

  • Zonneveld, I.S., and A. Barendregt. 2009. Human activities in European tidal freshwater wetlands. In Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, ed. A. Barendregt, D. Whigham, and A. Baldwin, 11–20. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Laura Perry, Jennifer D’Avanzo, Kathy Szlavecz, Christine Gault, Karyn Molines, Jeff Campbell, Cathy Ervin, Holly Budd, Rachel Dickey, Claudia Jones, John Schwartz, and Charlie Muise for their help with the fieldwork. Greg Kearns (Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission) helped interpret the aerial photographs and Becky Lang and Janice Henderson provided the digital cartography. Mary Leck and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments that improved the manuscript. Funding was provided by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks and the Friends of Jug Bay.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, 1361 Wrighton Road, Lothian, MD, 20711, USA

    Christopher W. Swarth

  2. Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Maryland, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 580 Taylor Avenue, E2, Annapolis, MD, 21401, USA

    Patricia Delgado

  3. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P.O. Box 28, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA

    Dennis F. Whigham

Authors
  1. Christopher W. Swarth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricia Delgado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dennis F. Whigham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher W. Swarth.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 4 Wetland plant species identified and measured in study area permanent plots and transects
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Swarth, C.W., Delgado, P. & Whigham, D.F. Vegetation Dynamics in a Tidal Freshwater Wetland: A Long-Term Study at Differing Scales. Estuaries and Coasts 36, 559–574 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9568-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9568-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation