Physiological Profiles as Indicators of Response to Hurricane Disturbance for Three Coastal Wetland Species

ABSTRACT Pivovaroff, A.L.; Swift, C.; Battaglia, L.L.; Kunz, B.; Platt, W.J., and Yoder, C.L., 2015. Physiological profiles as indicators of response to hurricane disturbance for three coastal wetland species. Hurricanes alter light and water availability via canopy damage and storm surge delivery and are expected to intensify with climate change. Plant species respond to environmental changes by making physiological adjustments in situ or through distribution changes. Three years after Hurricane Katrina, we compared functional traits and water relations among three species along the coenocline at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Fairhope, Alabama, U.S.A. Based on posthurricane distribution changes for these species, we hypothesized that (1) Cladium mariscus, whose distribution expanded slightly, is responsive to increased light availability in the disturbed forest at the landward end but is strongly limited by water stress at its seaward edge; (2) Baccharis halimifolia, whose distribution s...