Date of Award

1984

Degree Name

Biological Sciences

College

College of Science

Type of Degree

M.S.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Dan K. Evans

Second Advisor

Donald C. Tarter

Third Advisor

Stanley W. Ash

Abstract

Vegetational and floristic analyses were performed on eight wetlands undergoing early secondary succession on the Kanawha River floodplain of' West Virginia. All sites have been cleared previously and have been revegetated for 30 years or less. Vegetation was classified into ten cover types according to species composition and physiognomy. Aquatic, graminoid dominated wet meadow, shrub-wet meadow, Spiraea tomentosa dominated, Comus amomum dominated, and various early forested wetlands were among the cover types classified and surveyed. Frequency, density, dominance, and importance values were established with random plot sampling for both herbaceous and woody species. A total of 262 species distributed among 73 families was recorded in the study with Sorenson's Coefficient of Similarity ranging from .000 to .681. Floristic composition and community dynamics within and between wetland types are compared and correlated with soil characteristics. Six soil types sampled from the sites during the study were classified as wetland or nonwetland soils. Finally, a model predicting direction of' development and succession in early secondary wetlands following extreme perturbation is presented.

Subject(s)

Floodplain flora -- Kanawha River (W.Va.)

Floodplain ecology -- Kanawha River (W.Va.)

Wetland flora -- Kanawha River (W.Va.)

Wetland ecology -- Kanawha River (W.Va.)

Kanawha River (W.Va.)

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