Abstract
This research described processes of early wetland primary succession on newly created hydric soils for the purpose of contributing to the body of knowledge about the design and creation of wetland habitat. This research was a multiple-case design and described temporal change through comparison of eight different created wetland sites of different ages (spanning 11 years) in east-central Texas. Condition assessments, descriptions of change, and patterns of covariation in change were made of eight biotic variables (species associations, diversity, composition, frequency, dominance, character, origin, and life form characteristics) and five abiotic variables (soil particle size, pH, electrical conductivity, moisture, and organic carbon). Field data was collected using a modified strip quadrat procedure. Two distinct phases of early wetland primary succession were identified and described based on an analysis of the findings: (1) the Arrival and Establishment Phase, and (2) the Autogenic Dominance Phase. An hypothesis was tested that predicted temporal change in dominance of species life history characteristics. In the early stages of primary succession (within the first two years) the percent of vegetation cover was comprised primarily of annuals and perennials with some vegetative perennials. Perennials dominated on each successively older site and the occurrence of annual species decreased. Vegetative perennials diminished in occurrence from the four-through the eight-year-old sites. There were no vegetative perennials found on plots sampled on the eleven-year-old sites. Analysis of the findings suggested that: (1) primary succession is the underlying process effecting evolution of newly created wetland conditions, (2) wetland management strategies should be derived from wetland primary succession theory, (3) existing succession theory can serve to guide the development of wetland primary succession theory, and (4) hypotheses can be tested within the context of complex natural systems.
Noon, Kevin Francis (1993). Wetland primary succession. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1520522.