User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
My research project looks at tree species composition in riparian ecosystems. Essentially, riparian ecosystems are highly dynamic and volatile environments due to the prevalence of natural disturbances, such as landslides and flooding. These ecosystems are highly competitive and the tree species that occupy them need to have adaptations to survive in the face of frequent disturbances and resource limitations. My project studies a stretch of riparian lake shoreline and investigates whether there is a relationship between flood frequency and species composition by analysing species composition at different elevations on the bank of the lake. My primary focus is on the species Alnus rubra, and determining first whether there is a correlation between more frequent flood disturbances on the lower elevations of the shoreline and increased relative abundance of Alnus rubra, in relation to conifer species.
Secondly, my research looks into potential reasons for such a pattern. I refer to a number of research studies that suggest levels of resilience to flood disturbance, tolerance to waterlogging, substrate preferences and reproductive strategies are responsible for the distribution of Alnus rubra and the conifer species across the flood prone, and upper elevations of the Nita Lake shoreline. Ultimately, riparian tree species composition is not stagnant, but always evolving through different stages of succession, which at any time can be disrupted by flood disturbance and turned back to the first stage. In order to predict species composition in riparian ecosystems, one must have an understanding of the life history strategies and adaptations of the different species that interact to produce these successional dynamics.
Keywords:
Riparian ecosystem
Flood disturbance
Life history strategies
