EFFECTS OF SHALLOW FLOODING ON NEWLY ESTABLISHED PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE SEEDLINGS

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a nuisance exotic species th at displaces native plants and has little value as food or habitat for wildlife. Attempts to control adult plants have had limited success. We investigated the effects of shallow flooding (< 30 cm) on the growt h and survival of purple loosestrife seedlings. Pots containing purple loosestrife seedlings were assigned to each of 12 treatment combinati ons: 3 seedling height categories and 4 flooding depths. Mean stem den sities were not affected by the treatments (P > 0.05). The flooding tr eatments significantly affected mean stem heights, but there were no i dentifiable trends within size classifications. All seedlings continue d to grow during the experiment. The survival of any purple loosestrif e plants can have serious implications in wetlands. The results from t his study indicate that shallow flooding is not an effective approach to limiting or preventing establishment of purple loosestrife seedling s.