Wetlands of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: The Role of Species Composition in Community Function
Ehrenfeld JG. 1986. Wetlands of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: The Role of Species Composition in Community Function. The American Midland Naturalist. 115(2):301-313
Of the 25% of the New Jersey Pine Barrens that is wetland, about 60% consists of hardwood-dominated or pitch pine-dominated communities. Although these swamps have different dominant trees, the shrub and herb layers share many species, and the types intergrade. Twelve stands representing four variants of these swamps were sampled for species composition, biomass, net primary production and nitrogen dynamics. Pine lowlands, which have large numbers of small trees and a dense layer of small shrubs, have a low total stand biomass (56 mt/ha), but a high NPP (8,027 kg/ha/year). Because of physical damage from moving water and flotsam, hardwood swamps affected by stream floodwaters have lower biomass (133 mt/ha) and NPP (5,434 kg/ha/year) than do swamps with either short hydroperiods or long hydroperiods of stationary to slowly moving floodwater (biomass 146-150 mt/ha, NPP 5,857-6,643 kg/ha/year).
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Ehrenfeld, Joan
- Units
- PINE
- Keywords
- botanical composition, Community Ecology, Ecology, Environmental factors, Forests, Nitrogen Cycle, plant community analysis, Plant Ecology, Research Article, Species, Species Composition, Vegetation Surveys, wetland flora, Wetlands