Assessing the Influence of Physical Factors and Human-Related Disturbances on Forested Wetland Communities in Georgia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Publication Title

Southeastern Naturalist

Abstract

Forested wetlands act as buffers between human civilization and aquatic ecosystems, providing numerous services. Due to widespread human influence, most existing forested wetlands are secondary forests. This study investigated 3 forested wetlands in the Oconee basin in middle Georgia to assess the influence of physical factors and anthropogenic disturbances on the tree composition. Our analyses revealed that the northernmost wetland had experienced the most recent major anthropogenic disturbance based on the dominance of an early successional species. The southernmost site, a floodplain forest, was the most diverse due to the short flooding durations that support a larger suite of species. The middle site was the least diverse but had the largest trees and total basal area.

Department

Biological and Environmental Sciences

Volume Number

19

Issue Number

2

First Page

363

Last Page

379

Comments

© 2020 Southeastern Naturalist.

DOI

10.1656/058.019.0218

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