Succession of macrobenthos in a created salt marsh

Functionality of Root-Associated Bacteria along a Salt Marsh Primary Succession

Plant-associated bacteria are known for their high functional trait diversity, from which many are likely to play a role in primary and secondary succession, facilitating plant establishment in suboptimal soils conditions. Here we used an undisturbed salt marsh chronosequence that represents over 100 years of soil development to assess how the functional traits of plant associated bacteria resp...

Distribution of Root-Associated Bacterial Communities Along a Salt-Marsh Primary Succession

Proper quantification of the relative influence of soil and plant host on the root-associated microbiome can only be achieved by studying its distribution along an environmental gradient. Here, we used an undisturbed salt marsh chronosequence to study the bacterial communities associated with the soil, rhizosphere and the root endopshere of Limonium vulgare using 454-pyrosequencing. We hypothes...

Ecosystem assembly rules: the interplay of green and brown webs during salt marsh succession.

Current theories about vegetation succession and food web assembly are poorly compatible, as food webs are generally viewed to be static, and succession is usually analyzed without the inclusion of higher trophic levels. In this study we present results from a detailed analysis of ecosystem assembly rules over a chronosequence of 100 years of salt marsh succession. First, using 13 yearlong obse...

Competition and herbivory during salt marsh succession: the importance of forb growth strategy

1 Despite much debate about their importance, only a few ®eld studies have evaluated the intensity of competition and herbivory. 2 Artemisia maritima, Atriplex portulacoides and Plantago maritima, three plant species which are common in European temperate salt marshes, were transplanted into di€erent successional stages (15, 30 and 45 years old) of a temperate salt marsh. Biomass of each transp...

Patterns of Plant Community Development in a Created and a Natural Salt Marsh on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, USA