Phenotypic responses of Spartina anglica to duration of tidal immersion

Although Spartina anglica C. E. Hubbard continues to be invasive in many countries, this species has experienced a drastic decline in coastal China over the last decade. We hypothesize that changes in the duration of tidal immersion were responsible for this decline because the elevation of the S. anglica-dominated area in coastal China has increased greatly over the last decade. We examined the effects of the duration of simulated tidal immersion and plant material provenance on growth, asexual reproduction, biomass accumulation, and allocation (percent of above-ground biomass to total biomass) of S. anglica in a greenhouse experiment. The provenance of S. anglica did not significantly affect any traits measured except for height, stalk diameter, and leaf area. However, all traits were affected by the duration of immersion. Plants grown under 6 h of immersion were taller and had more leaves, more roots, and larger leaf area than those under 2, 4, 8, and 10 h of immersion. Asexual traits and biomass of the plants grown under 6 h of immersion were significantly larger than those under other immersion durations. The results suggested that S. anglica benefits from tidal immersion and decreasing duration of tidal immersion may have resulted in the decline of the S. anglica populations in coastal China. Thus, controlling the duration of tidal immersion may be an effective way of controlling invasiveness of this species elsewhere in the world.