Hybrid cattail (Typha x glauca) growth and nutrient content along a water depth gradient in two prairie marshes

Abstract

Emergent macrophytes are an integral part of prairie marshes and involved in many of the services that make these ecosystems valuable. Water depth and hydroperiod are two environmental variables that can influence the growth and nutrient content of emergent macrophytes. This study looked at the growth and nutrient content response of hybrid cattail (Typha x glauca) to water depth and hydroperiod in two prairie marshes in southern Manitoba, Canada. Above- and belowground samples of hybrid cattails were collected along a water depth gradient at Oak Hammock Marsh, Canada, and analyzed for biomass, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen content, shoot height, and density. A second dataset was obtained from the Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP) experiment, and used to determine the biomass and nutrient content response of the hybrid cattail following one or two years of drawdown.