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(American Journal of Botany. 2003;90:1720-1728.)
© 2003 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Ecology

Responses of common and successional heathland species to manipulated salt spray and water availability1

Megan E. Griffiths2 and Colin M. Orians

Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 USA

Coastal sandplain heathlands are a rare plant community in the northeastern United States. Salt spray and water availability are likely important factors determining heathland distribution. Field surveys and manipulative experiments were performed to examine heathland species' responses to salt spray and water availability. We surveyed field distributions of four typical heathland species: Solidago puberula, Solidago rugosa, Gaylussacia baccata, and Myrica pensylvanica. The distributions of two native tree species, Pinus rigida and Quercus ilicifolia, were also surveyed because they succeed into coastal heathlands with low disturbance frequency. We then manipulated salt spray and water in the field and measured species' water status, necrosis, and growth responses to the treatments. Predawn xylem pressure potential and necrosis were strongly affected by high salt spray and low water availability. Shoot elongation was also limited in S. puberula and S. rugosa grown in high salt, low water treatments. Gaylussacia baccata and Q. ilicifolia were particularly sensitive to high salt spray and low water, suggesting that they might excluded be from areas with those conditions. The interaction between salt spray and water availability could affect the landscape scale and should be incorporated into conservation management plans.

Key Words: coastal sandplain heathlands • disturbances • heathland species • northeastern USA • salt spray • water availability






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