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Response of Typha to Phosphorus, Hydrology, and Land Use in Lake Ontario Coastal Wetlands and a Companion Greenhouse Study
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Wetlands Management and Ecology
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2022
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Abstract
Loss of Great Lakes wetlands due to
changes in land use, hydrology, nutrient inputs, and
invasive species led to the need for studies involving
physical factors that influence growth of invasive
cattails (Typha). Thus, in 18 Lake Ontario coastal
wetlands, we sampled vegetation along stratified random
transects and collected water samples for total
phosphorus (TP) analyses. We used GIS to determine
watershed area, percent land use as croplands,
and length of lotic surface waters entering wetlands.
A greenhouse growth experiment with a full factorial
random block design was used to investigate the
effects of variable hydroperiod and phosphorus concentrations
on T. × glauca biomass changes. Correlation
analyses of wetland data revealed that TP in field
studies was related to percent croplands but not lotic
length; mean percent Typha was not related to TP. In
the growth experiment, above- and below-ground biomass
increased significantly for simple main effects of
hydroperiod and phosphorus concentrations. Multiple
pairwise interaction comparisons between hydrology
and nutrient treatments showed that effects of phosphorus
concentration were present only at longer
hydroperiods. Lack of correlation between Typha and
phosphorus concentrations in the field was likely due
to the overwhelming effect of water-level regulation
on Lake Ontario. The greenhouse study demonstrated
that increasing concentrations of phosphorus positively
influenced cattail growth in a controlled setting.
Although phosphorus positively influenced growth,
hydrologic regime had the greatest influence on cattail
growth, with increased biomass as hydroperiod
increased. More natural hydrology and management
of phosphorus inputs may help limit spread of Typha.