• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.49-62
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• 2023

Background: Over the past three decades, gradual eustatic sea-level rise has been considered a primary exogenous factor in the increased frequency of flooding and biological changes in several salt marshes. Under this paradigm, the potential importance of short-term events, such as ocean storminess, in coastal hydrology and ecology is underrepresented in the literature. In this study, a simulation was developed to evaluate the influence of wind waves driven by atmospheric oscillations on sedimentary and vegetation dynamics at the Skallingen salt marsh in southwestern Denmark. The model was built based on long-term data of mean sea level, sediment accretion, and plant species composition collected at the Skallingen salt marsh from 1933-2006. In the model, the submergence frequency (number yr^-1) was estimated as a combined function of wind-driven high water level (HWL) events (> 80 cm Danish Ordnance Datum) affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and changes in surface elevation (cm yr^-1). Vegetation dynamics were represented as transitions between successional stages controlled by flooding effects. Two types of simulations were performed: (1) baseline modeling, which assumed no effect of wind-driven sea-level change, and (2) experimental modeling, which considered both normal tidal activity and wind-driven sea-level change. Results: Experimental modeling successfully represented the patterns of vegetation change observed in the field. It realistically simulated a retarded or retrogressive successional state dominated by early- to mid-successional species, despite a continuous increase in surface elevation at Skallingen. This situation is believed to be caused by an increase in extreme HWL events that cannot occur without meteorological ocean storms. In contrast, baseline modeling showed progressive succession towards the predominance of late-successional species, which was not the then-current state in the marsh. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that variations in the NAO index toward its positive phase have increased storminess and wind tides on the North Sea surface (especially since the 1980s). This led to an increased frequency and duration of submergence and delayed ecological succession. Researchers should therefore employ a multitemporal perspective, recognizing the importance of short-term sea-level changes nested within long-term gradual trends.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2007

This study was carried out to select the utilizable vegetations for the stabilization of slopes and river banks, landscape creation and water quality cleansing in dams, lakes and streams. In this study, 4 species were investigated for their survival and growth characteristics in the complete and partly flooding conditions with various flooding periods. The results are as followings; Acorus calamus var. angustatus showed the highest flooding tolerance based on survival rate and growth condition. Equisetum hyemale, Acorus gramineus and Salix gracilistyla followed after Acorus calamus var. angustatus in the order of flooding tolerance. Particularly, A. calamus var. angustatus and E. hyemale showed higher survival rate and grew well even when they were completely submerged in the water up to 120 days. As they were partially submerged longer, they grew better. This ascertained that they had strong flooding tolerance. When A. gramineus were completely submerged in the water, their growth was disturbed but they did not die in the complete submergence up to 120 days. A. gramineus had a small growth disturbance and showed the highest vitality of leaves among the species. Though S. gracilistyla showed somewhat low growth rate in the complete water submergence and died in 90 days, it also can grow back to normal with some changes of water level.