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(American Journal of Botany. 2006;93:1784-1790.)
© 2006 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Physiology and Biochemistry

Salt tolerance and osmotic adjustment of Spartina alterniflora (Poaceae) and the invasive M haplotype of Phragmites australis (Poaceae) along a salinity gradient1

Edward A. Vasquez, Edward P. Glenn5, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, J. Jed Brown6 and Stephen G. Nelson

Environmental Research Laboratory, 2601 East Airport Drive, Tucson, Arizona 85706 USA; 3U.S. Geological Survey, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Suite 4039, Laurel, Maryland 20708-4039 USA; and 4Delaware River Fisheries Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 26120 Whitehall Neck Road, Smyrna, Delaware 19977 USA

ABSTRACT

An invasive variety of Phragmites australis (Poaceae, common reed), the M haplotype, has been implicated in the spread of this species into North American salt marshes that are normally dominated by the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora (Poaceae, smooth cordgrass). In some European marshes, on the other hand, Spartina spp. derived from S. alterniflora have spread into brackish P. australis marshes. In both cases, the non-native grass is thought to degrade the habitat value of the marsh for wildlife, and it is important to understand the physiological processes that lead to these species replacements. We compared the growth, salt tolerance, and osmotic adjustment of M haplotype P. australis and S. alterniflora along a salinity gradient in greenhouse experiments. Spartina alterniflora produced new biomass up to 0.6 M NaCl, whereas P. australis did not grow well above 0.2 M NaCl. The greater salt tolerance of S. alterniflora compared with P. australis was due to its ability to use Na+ for osmotic adjustment in the shoots. On the other hand, at low salinities P. australis produced more shoots per gram of rhizome tissue than did S. alterniflora. This study illustrates how ecophysiological differences can shift the competitive advantage from one species to another along a stress gradient. Phragmites australis is spreading into North American coastal marshes that are experiencing reduced salinities, while Spartina spp. are spreading into northern European brackish marshes that are experiencing increased salinities as land use patterns change on the two continents.

Key Words: brackish marsh • halophyte • invasive species • osmotic adjustment • salinity tolerance • salt marsh






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