Impact of Water Level on Species Quantity and Composition Grown from the Soil Seed Bank of the Inland Salt Marsh: An Ex-Situ Experiment

Eva Čížková,Stanislav Martinát,Jana Navrátilová,Ryan J Frazier,Josef Navrátil

doi:10.3390/land9120533

Abstract

The near elimination of inland salt marshes in Central Europe occurred throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and the currently remaining marshes exist in a degraded condition. This work examines the impact of groundwater level on the growth of plants from a seed bank obtained from a degraded salt marsh in proximity to still existing one through an ex-situ experiment. An experimental tank was set up with the sample seed bank experiencing differing levels of water level. There were 1233 specimens of 44 taxa grown from the seed bank, of which 5 species were abundant, and 10 species are considered as halophytes. Only Lotus tenuis from halophytes was more abundant, and only five species of halophytes were represented by more than three individuals. The water level has a significant impact on the number of species (based on linear regression analysis) as well as species distribution among different water level treatments (a non-metric multidimensional analysis (nMDS) followed by linear regression). The results show a strong negative relationship between the average water level and the number of species. The water level did not affect the species composition of halophytes, but differences in individual species abundances were found among the halophytes. The species Bupleurum tenuissimum, Crypsis schoenoides, Melilotus dentatus, and Plantago maritima grew on the drier and non-inundated soils. Tripolium pannonicum, Spergularia maritima, and Lotus tenuis grew on both wet and dry soils. Trifolium fragiferum and Bolboschoenus maritimus were found in places with water stagnant at the soil level. Pulicaria dysenterica grew in inundated soil.

Highlights

Temperate climate inland salt marshes belong to a set of ecologically extreme habitats due to their high concentration of soluble salts in the soil and a strong water level fluctuation throughout a year [1]
This imbalance results in salt ions rising through the soil profile and accumulating near the top. These favorable for salt marsh conditions occur primarily near mineral springs or on plains with mineralized groundwater [2,3]. These salt marshes experience considerable water level changes throughout a year; the soil is inundated in winter, but water levels decrease over the spring, summer, and autumn months, wherein the soil may dry
Three higher taxa and 40 species of vascular plants were determined from the seeds that grew from the soil seed bank sample in the experimental tank

Summary

Introduction

Temperate climate inland salt marshes belong to a set of ecologically extreme habitats due to their high concentration of soluble salts in the soil and a strong water level fluctuation throughout a year [1] These salt marshes are typically found in generally arid areas where the soil water vapor amounts are higher than absorption rates. Land 2020, 9, 533 out completely [4]. These Central and Eastern European biotopes are predominantly located on the eastern steppes of the Pontic-Pannonian region [5,6,7] with a lobe extending into the eastern parts of the

Results

Discussion

Conclusion