Reciprocal Transplant Experiment in a Coastal Forest, Nassawadox, VA

In the Mid-Atlantic region, accelerated sea-level rise is provoking rapid shifts in many coastal areas. As salt water intrusion occurs, tidal wetland species are colonizing space opened up by upland dieback and can even invade coastal forest understory prior to said dieback. One such species is the high marsh grass Spartina patens, which is known to exhibit divergent growth forms under the differing conditions of marsh, dune, and swale habitats. It is now colonizing the understory of coastal pine forests experiencing salt water intrusion. I established plots at three sites on the Delmarva peninsula in adjacent marsh and forest areas and conducted a reciprocal transplant experiment to address the following questions: a) How do environmental conditions for S. patens differ between marsh and forest habitats? b) How do S. patens traits differ between these habitats and are these differences a product of plasticity? Our results showed lower salinity and light availability in the forest which corresponded to greater height and leaf area of S. patens plants. Though some traits showed an effect of their habitat of origin, many functional traits exhibited strong phenotypic plasticity in response to environment. This plasticity may prove crucial to the species' resilience to future change.