• DOI:10.15368/THESES.2013.233
• Corpus ID: 126809219

The Influence of Hydrogeomorphology, Soil Redox Conditions, and Salinity on the Spatial Zoning of Saltgrass, Salt Rush, and Cattails in Scotts Creek Marsh, Swanton Pacific Ranch, CA

@inproceedings{Gormley2013TheIO,
  title={The Influence of Hydrogeomorphology, Soil Redox Conditions, and Salinity on the Spatial Zoning of Saltgrass, Salt Rush, and Cattails in Scotts Creek Marsh, Swanton Pacific Ranch, CA},
  author={Mark Gormley},
  year={2013}
}

• M. Gormley
• Published 2013
• Environmental Science

iii COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP TITLE: The influence of hydrogeomorphology, soil redox conditions, and salinity on the spatial zoning of iv ABSTRACT The influence of hydrogeomorphology, soil redox conditions, and salinity on the spatial Scotts Creek Marsh (SCM) is a small coastal wetland ecosystem in Davenport, CA. The vegetation of SCM is dominated by three halophytic zones comprised of saltgrass, salt rush, cattails. The objectives of the study were (i) to investigate the variables that influence the zoning of the three dominant halophyte communities in SCM (ii) and to the test the effectiveness of Indicator of Reduction in Soil (IRIS) tubes to indicate the reduction of S. The study examined the following parameters from April 6 to July 21, 2013: (i) the HGM of Scotts Creek Marsh, (ii) soil oxidation and reduction (redox) conditions, and (iii) salinity. All three halophytes were well suited for anoxic, redox, and saline conditions by utilizing morphological adaptations (arenchyma, adventitious roots) to their root systems. The study concluded that the spatial zoning of the three dominate halophyte species within SCM was most likely due to slight differences in the water levels and salinity. The plants were distributed in an expected pattern; saltgrass occupying the areas with the highest water EC (26.98 dS/m) and elevation (279.20 cm). The salt rush zones had a mild average EC of 15.24 dS/m and elevation of 276.76 cm. The cattails dominated the low average saline areas (9.60 dS/m) near the marsh channels with the elevation of 270.97 cm. The IRIS tubes that were installed as indicators of both sulfur and iron reduction were effective. The 30 tubes that were withdrawn after the closure of Scott's Creek all had > 30% reduction of the Fe 3+ paint. The analyzed data from the study suggests that changes to the HGM of SCM could potentially alter the ecology of the marsh. The results from the IRIS study seemed to indicate that they are effective at recording the reduction of sulfur.