Effects of soil drainage on vertical distribution of subsurface tissues in the salt marsh macrophyteSpartina alterniflora Lois

Spartina alterniflora was propagated in buckets of modified salt marsh soil with near-natural cyclic flood/drain regimes to determine effects of soil drainage on the vertical distribution of subsurface tissues. There was a significant correlation between aerial biomass and drainage during the first year but not during the second. No statistically significant correlation was found between soil drainage depth and subsurface tissue distribution either at the end of the first growing season or the second. Well-drained soils led to more uniform vertical distribution, but in general, soil drainage depth had no consistent effect either on distribution of subsurface plant biomass or on aerial: subsurface tissue ratios.