TIDAL FRESH-WATER WETLAND ZONATION - SEED AND SEEDLING DYNAMICS

Zonation patterns of seed rain (input), persistent seed bank (seeds pe rsisting for 1 year or longer), field seedlings, and seed production w ere studied in a New Jersey tidal freshwater wetland along transects e xtending from a tidal stream bank 30 m into the high marsh. Species di versity was highest along the stream channel and lowest at the farthes t high marsh sites. Seed rain and persistent seed bank densities were similar across the transect. Although species composition varied consi derably among life history categories, generally field seedlings mirro red the species composition of the seed rain. Seed rain, seed bank, se edlings observed in the field, and seed production patterns varied bet ween species, across sites for a species, and between years. Sites var ied in the proportion of estimated seed production represented as seed lings either in greenhouse (5-99%) or field (2-24%) samples. Tidal tra nsport influenced dispersal of seeds and the persistent seed bank.