User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
My project examines the role that soil moisture has on the abundance and density of Labrador Tea in wetlands surrounding two small lakes. The wetlands range in saturation from “flooded” (pooling water all season) to well-drained and range in distance from the lake shorelines. The ecological processes that my hypothesis touches on is competition. Plants that are stronger competitors and can thrive in a range a moisture levels are more likely to be able to survive in lake shorelines where changing water levels, wave action and ice scour are routine. The ideas that underpin my research are that flooding intensity and duration are predictors of biological diversity and lake shoreline vegetation, therefore, is determined by changing water levels. Another idea is that Labrador Tea, specifically, is common in wetland communities but not in well-drained or permanently flooded areas.
Three key words: wetlands, shorelines, Ledum groenlandicum
