Chamaecyparis thyoides Wetlands and Suburbanization: Effects on Hydrology, Water Quality and Plant Community Composition
Ehrenfeld JG and Schneider JP. 1991. Chamaecyparis thyoides Wetlands and Suburbanization: Effects on Hydrology, Water Quality and Plant Community Composition. Journal of Applied Ecology. 28(2):467-490
Atlantic white cedar wetlands in the New Jersey Pinelands were studied along a gradient of suburban development defined by increasingly intrusive road and house construction. Some increases in N, P and chloride occurred in both surface and groundwater within wetlands beside septic system drain fields. Much larger increases in these parameters, plus increases in heavy metal concentrations, occurred in sites receiving both septic tank drainage and road run-off. Hydrology was affected by dams on streams traversing the wetlands, and by ditches. With increasing levels of suburban disturbance, there was an increasing loss of indigenous herbaceous species and an increasing incursion of upland and exotic species. Ground cover by Sphagnum spp. and cedar seedling densities all declined with increasing suburban development. Woody plant community composition and structure showed little change over the gradient. Changes in water quality were more important in determining changes in community composition and structure than were changes in hydrology. Species richness appears to follow an optimization curve with respect to nutritional quality of the wetland. The maximum buffer width provided for by law should be required for all upland development adjacent to white cedar wetlands
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Ehrenfeld, Joan; Schneider, John
- Units
- PINE
- Keywords
- Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Ecology, Plant Communities, Plant Studies, Research Article, sphagnum, suburbanization, Water Quality, Wetlands