While I was researching for an article that has been published in the year 2000, I stumbled upon this article: How do depth, duration and frequency of flooding influence the establishment of wetland plant communities? This research paper was written by Michelle T. Casanova & Margaret A. Brock.
In that paper, both researchers were determined to find what water factors, including depth and frequency of water flooding, affect the plant communities at the wetlands. They conducted an experiment by gathering seed bank from two different wetlands. The seed bank consisted of different species of plants, thus, allowed for examining different responses to different conditions for each species. Each seed bank was introduced to about 17 different conditions; this included different water depths, frequency and duration of flooding.
Their results showed that duration and frequency had the most effect on the composition of the plant communities in the seed banks, while depth had little effect on the plants. The planters that have been flooded showed a smaller plant population, in comparison to the plants that did not experience any flooding. The longer the flooding, the smaller the plant communities became. The only plants that was able to survive long durations of floods were the anoxic plants, which means they can survive in low levels of oxygen. This study provided insight on how vegetation can be affected by the water regimes in both natural or modified wetlands.
Reference: Casanova, M. T., & Brock, M. A. (2000). How Do Depth, Duration and Frequency of Flooding Influence the Establishment of Wetland Plant Communities? Plant Ecology, 147(2), 237–250. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20050919
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 