Aquatic Plants of the Mississippi Coast

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2012

Department

Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

School

Ocean Science and Engineering

Abstract

The wetlands in Mississippi are a home for numerous aquatic plants. Correct identification and locating of the native, favorable species or the invasive, noxious species are: 1) required to understand species richness/dominance/diversity which can be used as an indicator of the habitat's health, complexity, stability, and status; and 2) the first step in habitat assessment or proper conservation and management. This study was designed to document common aquatic plants that occur on the Mississippi coast and to present them by habitat type and growth form. Shallow coastal and estuarine waters, salt marshes, tidal oligohaline marshes, freshwater marshes, and freshwater swamps were surveyed for emergent, floating-leaved, submerged, and free-floating aquatic plants from 2008 to 2010 within coastal Mississippi. The location was recorded, and photos of the plants were taken. The catalogued information was sorted by habitat type and plant growth characteristic.

Publication Title

Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences

Volume

57

Issue

4

First Page

240

Last Page

249

Link to Full Text

Find in your library

Share

COinS