Plant Zonation on a Shoreline Gradient: Physiological Response Curves of Component Species

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Abstract
(1) The distributions of twelve shoreline plant species were measured along a gradient of substratum organic content in six Canadian lakes. (2) The organic content gradient reflects varying amounts of wave energy arriving on shorelines; it is positively correlated with substratum silt and clay content and with concentrations of P, K, Ca and Mg. (3) The frequencies of occurrence of eleven species varied significantly (P < 0.05) along the gradient. Different species reached maximum frequency at different substratum organic contents. (4) The same species were grown singly at ten different substratum organic contents. Biomass accumulated after one growing season varied significantly (P < 0.05) with substratum organic content of each of eleven species. The physiological response curves of the species along the gradient were similar (P < 0.01). (5) The experiment suggests that the differential distributions of the species along the gradient are not entirely attributable to differential physiological responses.

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