OPCE-STR.vp Acta Bot. Croat. 70 (1), 41–51, 2011 CODEN: ABCRA 25 ISSN 0365–0588 Effects of selected groundwater chemical traits on a salt marsh community MAHMUT KILINÇ1,*HAMDÝ GÜRAY KUTBAY1, ERKAN YALÇIN1, ALÝ BÝLGÝN2, KENAN AVCI3, SOLMAZ GENCOGLU TOPALOGLU3 1 University of Ondokuz, Mayis Faculty of Arts – Sciences, Department of Biology, 55139 Kurupelit-Samsun, Turkey 2 Rize University, Faculty of Arts – Sciences, Department of Biology, 53100 Rize, Turkey 3 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Soil and Water Resources Research Insti- tute, Samsun, Turkey Abstract – Electrical conductivity, exchangeable sodium ratio and water depth have nega- tive impacts, whereas soil organic matter concentration has a positive impact on Black Sea salt marsh vegetation. The most saline soils were characterized by Salicornia prostrata vegetation and associated with exchangeable sodium ratio. Alhagi pseudalhagi and Tamarix smrynensis populations were associated with water depth, while Juncus littoralis, Ammophila arenaria and E. paralias were associated with soil organic matter. Euphorbia paralias, Ammophila arenaria and Iris orientalis were associated with acidity. Key words: Black Sea, groundwater, salt marsh, vegetation, Black Sea Introduction Salt marsh ecosystems are known to be a highly structured environment providing a gradient of environmental conditions from extremely inundated and saline to relatively mesic (ZHANG 1996, CANTERO et al. 1998a). Coastal salt marshes vegetated by herbs, grasses, and low shrubs bordering saline water bodies are unique ecosystems universally recognized for their exceptional ecological value (MITSCH and GOSSELINK 1993). They comprise areas of land bordering the sea largely covered with vegetation and subject to pe- riodic tidal inundation (KENNISH 2001). A small number of halophytic species that are spa- tially segregated in pronounced vegetation zones dominate these ecosystems (BERTNESS et al. 1992, ASRI and GHORBANLI 1997, ABD EL-GHANI 2000a, APAYDIN et al. 2009). The use of halophytes as indicators of groundwater and soil chemical traits could be an effective and useful method for scientists to inform extension agents, and end users about the state of the environment (LI WEI-QUIANG et al. 2008, SHALTOUT and AL-SODANY 2008). ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 41 * Corresponding author, e-mail: hguray@omu.edu.tr Copyright® 2011 by Acta Botanica Croatica, the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. All rights reserved. U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 28. o ujak 2011 15:57:58 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees It has been reported that vegetation zonation in salt marshes is primarily related to the salinity of the groundwater (CHAPMAN 1974, ABDEL-RAZIK and ISMAIL 1990, PENNINGS and CALLAWAY 1992, JONGMAN et al. 1995, CANTERO et al. 1998a, KUTBAY and DEMIR 2001) and groundwater chemical traits are often considered to determine the possibility of restor- ing or rehabilitating a salt marsh. This study is aimed to determine the role of chemical traits of groundwater on plant communities in a salt marsh located in the north of Turkey using numerical methods. For this reason, selected groundwater and soil chemical traits were used and the roles of these traits on plant communities in the study area were evaluated. Study area The study area is situated on the east bank of the Kýzýlýrmak River in the northern and northeastern parts of Bafra town (41°43'10.09'' N, 35° 59' 26.32'' E), North Turkey, in the Central Black Sea Region (Fig. 1). The area is characterised by a semi-humid Mediterra- nean climate with the highest potential evaporation rate (140 mm) occurring during June (ENGIN and KORKMAZ 1990, APAYDIN et al. 2009). The study area is located at Kýzýlýrmak River delta. The Kýzýlýrmak River delta is an ex- ception in that coastal erosion is an environmental threat that increases inundation, thus leading to land loss. Coastal retreat in the study area is between 2.5–5.0 m per year. The sediments supplied by the Kýzýlýrmak River feed the coastal barriers in the study area under the influence of the longshore flows with an average speed of 40–50 cm s–1. The soils of the study area are formed from alluvial materials. The sediments in the area consist of Upper Pleistocene and Holocene alluviums and vary from fine sand, silt and clay in varying thick- ness and extents. The thickness of Quaternary deposits increases northwards. The soils are 42 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 KILINÇ M., GÜRAY KUTBAY H., YALÇIN E., BÝLGÝN A., AVCI K., GENCOGLU TOPALOGLU S. Fig. 1. Map of the study area U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:49 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees fine-textured with moderate hydraulic conductivity. Sublayers of these soils are massive in structure (ALPAR 2009, DEMIR et al. 2009). Soil pH and electrical conductivity are rather high and soils are alkaline (ARSLAN et al. 2007). Additionally, groundwater in the study area has high electrical conductivity (DEMIR et al. 2009). Coastal dunes occur along the shoreline and they extend about 30–40 m from the shore- line and coastal dunes are characterised by Ammophila arenaria subsp. arundinacea, Euphorbia paralias and Tamarix smrynensis communities. Coastal sand dunes are re- placed by salt pans and these salt pans are characterised by Salicornia prostrata communi- ties. At the edge of these communities Alhagi pseudalhagi communities occur. About 200 m from the shoreline Juncus littoralis C. A. Meyer and Juncus acutus communities occur. About 270 m from the shoreline inland dunes are characterised by Iris orientalis Miller communities (Fig. 2). We use taxonomic nomenclature according to DAVIS (1965–1985) and DAVIS et al. (1988) and BRUMMITT and POWELL (1992). Materials and methods The research transect was 350 m long from sand dunes in the north-east to the water level below the salt marsh in the south-west (Fig. 1). Ground water samples were taken along the transect populated by the Ammophila arenaria subsp. arundinacea, Euphorbia paralias and Tamarix smrynensis communities (Fig. 2). The cover of species (in %) was estimated in 4 square meters (2 m � 2 m) for each com- munity according to the Braun–Blanquet scale, as proposed by VAN DER MAAREL (1979), using standard relevé methods (MUELLER-DUMBOIS and ELLENBERG, 1974). Groundwater samples were collected during July 2000 with a sample bottle after soil cores were with the ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 43 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND SALT MARSH COMMUNITY Fig. 2. The transect showing plant zonation in the study area. 1. Ammophila arenaria, 2. Euphorbia paralias, 3. Tamarix smrynensis, 4. Salicornia prostrata subsp. prostrata, 5. Alhagi pseudal- hagi, 6. Juncus littoralis, 7. Juncus acutus, 8. Iris orientalis U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:49 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees use of a 7 cm diameter soil auger to a depth of 80 cm because mean root depth was about 80 cm for the studied species and four water samples were taken per community. The groundwa- ter level was determined at the sampling time by sinking a hole and allowing the interstitial water to refill it. Groundwater sam- ples were taken by boreholes which, as specified by Soil Sur- vey Staff guidelines, were sunk at each sampling point (FAULK- NER et al. 1989, SÁNCHEZ et al. 1998, ÁLVAREZ-ROGEL et al. 2007, BORNMAN et al. 2008). All materials that might come in contact with the groundwater were rigorously cleaned with high purity reagents (HCl and HNO3) and pure water (CREASEY and FLEGAL 1999). Soil samples were taken from 4 m � 4 m (16 m2) plots with a soil auger and soil samples were air-dried, crushed and sieved using a 2 mm mesh. The groundwater samples were analysed for: 1) electrical conductivity using a Jenway analyser, 2) Acidity using a Beckman pH meter (BLACK 1968), 3) K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ using a Perkin Elmer Atomic Absorp- tion Spectrophotometer (HANLON 1998), 4) SO42– and Cl– (meq L–1) concentrations were deter- mined by turbidimetric and gravimetric methods, re- spectively (ALLEN et al. 1986, KILINC et al. 2006), 5) exchangeable sodium ratio and sodium adsorption ratio were calculated according to HUSSEIN and RABENHORST (2001). 6) HCO3– concentration was determined by titration with sulphuric acid (ÁLVAREZ-ROGEL et al. 2006). 7) organic matter was determined according to the Walkley- -Black method (KILINC et al. 2006). To examine the relationships between plant communities and groundwater variables, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied (JONGMAN et al. 1995) using ECOM ver- sion 1.33 (HENDERSON and SEABY 2001). The cover-abundance symbols of the Braun-Blanquet scale (r, +, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) were replaced by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 values according to VAN DER MAAREL (1979) and FOCHT and PILLAR (2003). Results Chloride concentrations of groundwater and soil were rather high and sodium adsorption ratio and exchangeable sodium percentage values were also found to be high (Tab. 1). 44 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 KILINÇ M., GÜRAY KUTBAY H., YALÇIN E., BÝLGÝN A., AVCI K., GENCOGLU TOPALOGLU S. T a b . 1 . M ea n ± st an da rd de vi at io n va lu es of st ud ie d gr ou nd w at er (G W ) an d so il tr ai ts . T ra it pH E S P E C S A R K + C a2 + M g2 + H C O 3– C l– S O 42 – O M G W 7. 44 ± 0. 25 – 7. 71 ± 5. 41 35 .4 4± 10 .3 0 1. 90 ± 1. 63 25 .1 3± 17 .8 6 61 .4 1± 21 .2 2 24 .3 1± 10 .3 5 16 7. 94 ± 34 .0 8 2. 02 ± 1. 52 – S oi l 7. 46 ± 0. 33 23 .6 9± 8. 10 8. 32 ± 3. 40 – 1. 40 ± 0. 40 15 .3 8± 3. 95 56 .3 2± 10 .2 5 22 .9 1± 1. 69 46 .3 6± 4. 35 1. 70 ± 0. 53 2. 22 ± 0. 70 E C – el ec tr ic al co nd uc ti vi ty ; E S P – ex ch an ge ab le so di um pe rc en ta ge ; S A R – so di um ab so rp ti on ra ti o; O M – or ga ni c m at te r. U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:49 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees Pearson correlations between species and environment scores in canonical axis 1 and 2 were highly significant and explained 76 % and 77 % of the cumulative variance, respec- tively (Tab. 2). A Monte Carlo permutation test (999 permutations) confirmed the signifi- cance of the first two axes (p< 0.001). From the intra-set correlations of the soil factors with the first two axes of the CCA, electrical conductivity, exchangeable sodium ratio, water depth and organic matter concen- tration were the most significant parameters in axis 1 and all of these parameters were neg- atively correlated except for the soil organic matter concentration which was positively correlated. Along axis 2, only soil pH was negatively correlated and none of the other pa- rameters were significant (Tab. 3). According to the CCA analysis S. prostrata was associated with exchangeable sodium ratio, while A. pseudalhagi and T. smrynensis were associated with water depth. J. litto- ralis, A. arenaria and E. paralias were associated with soil organic matter. Along axis 2 E. paralias, A. arenaria and I. ori- entalis were associated with soil pH (Fig. 3). The results from the detrend- ed correspondence analysis (DCA) were similar to the re- sults of the CCA analysis in that the species were arranged ac- cording to groundwater salinity along axis 1. Species grouped along a groundwater salinity gra- dient with S. prostrata grouping separately on the right of axis 1 followed by J. acutus and then rest of the species along the left of axis 1. DCA axis 2 represents the distance from the sea and sand-dune species like E. para- lias, A. arenaria and J. littoralis grouped along the bottom of axis 2 (Fig. 4). ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 45 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND SALT MARSH COMMUNITY Tab. 2. Eigen values and species-groundwater chemical traits correlation coefficients. Canonical Axis 1 Canonical Axis 2 Canonical Eigenvalue 0.422 0.379 % Variance explained 5.877 5.284 Cumulative % variance 5.877 11.16 Pearson correlation species/environment scores 0.756 0.774 Tab. 3. Intraset correlation coefficients of soil and groundwater. Statistically significant correla- tions (p<0.05) are marked in bold. Can. Axis 1 Can. Axis 2 pH 0.345 –0.523 EC –0.817 0.131 ESR –0.644 –0.145 OM 0.677 –0.011 WD –0.579 –0.394 SAR –0.151 0.039 K+ –0.069 0.210 Ca2+ –0.005 0.424 Mg2+ 0.254 0.375 HCO3 – 0.055 –0.282 Cl– 0.308 0.236 SO4 2– 0.001 0.245 U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:49 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees Discussion Correlations between species and environmental scores indicated a strong association between communities and measured soil parameters, as has been already reported (JONGMAN et al. 1995, ABD EL-GHANI and AMER 2003). Salinity (electrical conductivity and ex- 46 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 KILINÇ M., GÜRAY KUTBAY H., YALÇIN E., BÝLGÝN A., AVCI K., GENCOGLU TOPALOGLU S. Fig. 3. The relationship among soil and groundwater traits and species by CCA. Ä Salicornia prostra- ta,�Tamarix smrynensis,�Juncus acutus,� Iris orientalis, + Alhagi pseudoalhagi,�Jun- cus littoralis, � Euphorbia paralias, � Ammophila arenaria Fig. 4. The relationship among soil and groundwater traits and species by detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Ä Salicornia prostrata, � Tamarix smrynensis, � Juncus acutus, � Iris orientalis, + Alhagi pseudoalhagi, � Juncus littoralis, � Euphorbia paralias, � Ammophila arenaria. U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:50 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees changeable sodium ratio), water depth and organic matter concentrations were found to be most significant environmental variables affecting salt marsh zonation. Groundwater salin- ity and depth (CANTERO et al. 1998b, MASHALY 2001, BORNMAN et al. 2002) and soil salin- ity (JI et al. 2009) have been identified as the most important factors in shaping vegetation patterns in other salt marsh ecosystems. Sodic soils are widespread in the study area be- cause sodium adsorption ratio values >13 (AMEZKETA and DE LERSUNDI 2008) Salicornia prostrata was associated with the most saline soils in the studied coastal salt marsh. This species forms monospecific stands along coastal salt marshes and inhabits salt-pan areas. These salt-pan areas are characterised by extreme conditions and Salicornia (Chenopodiaceae) species are regarded as fugitive species of these hypersaline bare patches and salt pans, because of their inability to compete with the dominant perennials (BERTNESS et al. 1992). It has been found that communities of halophytes were definitely better indicators of soil salinity than individual species and Salicornia occurred on ex- tremely saline soils (PIERNIK 2003). It is known that groundwater salinity is determined by tidal influences (SÁNCHEZ et al. 1998, HUSSEIN and RABENHORST 2001, APAYDIN et al. 2009, SALAMA and BOKHARI 2009). Flooding has been classified as a determinant factor of vegetation patterns in coastal estuar- ies (JI et al. 2009). Salicornia prostrata subsp. prostrata is widely subject to flooding and closely associated with exchangeable sodium ratio and may therefore be used reliably to evaluate the impact of flooding in salt marshes. Alhagi pseudalhagi and Tamarix smrynensis was closely associated with water depth and both species have been identified as groundwater indicating plants (ABD EL-GHANI 2000b; EL-BANA and AL-MATHNANI 2009). Soil organic matter is an important factor that regulates the distribution of Euphorbia paralias, Juncus littoralis and Ammophila arenaria (ABD EL-GHANI and AMER 2003, OMER 2004, ZAHRAN and WILLIS 2008). Luxuriant growth of J.littoralis is associated with soil organic matter concentrations making individual clumpings, reaching a height of 100 cm (ABD EL-GHANI 2000a, EL-SHEIKH and ABBADI 2004). Juncus littoralis was also associated with pH. According to the DCA diagram the two different gradients are interpreted as salinity and distance from the sea. Salicornia prostrata occurred in the right of the DCA diagram and indicated the most saline soils. BURCHILL and KENKEL (1991) stated that the most saline areas in salt marshes are generally dominated by succulent annual species like Salicornia. Salicornia species are subject to regions characterized by downward flow, more frequent tidal recharge, and thus hypersaline soil conditions. These conditions permit the long-term persistence of fugitive species like Salicornia by maintaining a physically harsh hyper- saline environment that is intolerable to neighbouring communities (THIBODEAU et al. 1998). Juncus acutus and J. littoralis occurred in the middle and left of the diagram. Juncus L. species are classified as slow-growing plants with extensive below-ground reserves, and hence tend to respond slowly to changes in soil factors (PENNINGS et al. 2005, APAYDIN et al. 2009). Salinity is decreased to the left of the diagram. Coastal dune species (Ammophila arenaria, Euphorbia paralias) inhabit the lowest part, while Iris orientalis inhabits the up- per part of the DCA diagram along the axis 2. I. orientalis occurred on inland dunes. These species usually adapted to less saline conditions as compared to Salicornia species (IHM et al. 2007). ACTA BOT. CROAT. 70 (1), 2011 47 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND SALT MARSH COMMUNITY U:\ACTA BOTANICA\Acta-Botan 1-11\Kilinc.vp 31. o ujak 2011 13:25:50 Color profile: Disabled Composite 150 lpi at 45 degrees The importance of particular factors is likely to vary geographically in salt marshes. In particular, salinity stress probably plays a much more important role in mediating plant zonation patterns at lower latitudes (PENNINGS et al. 2005). ÁLVAREZ-ROGEL et al. (2007) stated that salinity is more effective on zonation of communities than the vegetation and distance to the shoreline in a dune coastal salt marsh ecosystem. 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