Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Succession and herbivory in monsoonal wetlands

  • Published:
Wetlands Ecology and Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper considers the applicability of the Gleasonian succession model to monsoonal wetlands, particularly those in Australia and India. The similarities in climate and taxa shared among these wetlands produce a setting in which successional cycles may be replicated. The Gleasonian succession model was first designed to describe cyclic changes in prairie pothole wetlands in response to water flux and herbivore activity over 5–25 year intervals. However, monsoonal wetlands change over an annual cycle. The Gleasonian succession may therefore be faster in these wetlands than in temperate ones. Herbivores create openings in flooded vegetation during the wet season in India by killing emergent species. During the dry season, Paspalum distichum revegetates these openings via the sprouting of vegetative fragments (VS-I; establishment by vegetative means in drawndown conditions). In Australia, in those monsoonal wetlands dominated by the annual Oryza meridionalis (AS-II; establishment by seed germination in flooded conditions), revegetation is from the seed bank during the wet season. The Gleasonian succession model can help to explain the invasion of exotics in monsoonal wetlands; in Australia, sites dominated by Oryza meridionalis (wet season annual) can be invaded during the dry season by Mimosa pigra (PS-I; perennial, establishment by seed germination in drawndown conditions). Thus the role of herbivores in succession is more complicated than current predictive models of vegetation change encompass. Herbivores select specific habitats over plant species, and also can form symbiotic relationships with plants as seed dispersers. Nonetheless, if appropriately modified with respect to the life history requirements of these plant species, the Gleasonian succession model is useful in describing annual and long-term changes in the vegetation of monsoonal wetlands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali, S. and Vijayan, V.S. 1986. Keoladeo National Park Ecology Study. Summary report 1980-1985. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, India. 186 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armesto, J.J. and Pickett, S.T.A. 1985. Experiments on disturbance in oldfield plant communities: impact on species richness and abundance. Ecology 66: 230-240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, W. 1978. Root aeration in the wetland condition. In:Hook, D.D. and R.M.M. Crawford, (eds), Plant Life in Anaerobic Environments. pp. 269-297. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, A.J. 1986. Revegetation of artificial disturbances in grasslands of the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. I. Colonization of grazed and ungrazed plots. J. Ecology 74: 419-437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanch, S.J. and Brock, M.A. 1994. Effects of grazing and depth on two wetland plant species. Austr. J. Mar. Freshw. Res. 45: 1387-1394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunn, S.E. and Davies, P.M. 1985. The LWRRDC National Riparian Program: research issues and opportunities for the wet-dry tropics. In:Finlayson, C.M. (ed.), Wetland Research in the Wet-dry Tropics of Australia. pp. 266-270. Supervising Scientist Report 101, Barton, Australia.

  • Bourlière, F. (ed.). 1983. Ecosystems of the World 13: Tropical Savannas. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaneton, E.J. and Facelli, J.M. 1991. Disturbance effects on plant community diversity: spatial scales and dominance hierarchies. Vegetatio 93: 143-155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M.M. 1986. The Savannas: Biogeography and Geobotany. Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, J.H. and Slatyer, R.O. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am. Natur. 111: 1119-1144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denslow, J.S. 1985. Disturbance-mediated coexistence of species. In:Pickett, S.T.A. and P.S. White (eds), The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics. pp. 307-323. Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edroma, E.L. 1981. The role of grazing in maintaining high species composition in Imperatagrassland in Rwenzori National Park, Uganda. African Journal of Ecology 19: 215-233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Facelli, J.M., Leon, R.J.C. and Deregibus, V.A. 1989. Community structure in grazed and ungrazed grassland sites in the flooding pampa, Argentina. American Midland Naturalist 121: 125-133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C.M. 1991a. Plant ecology and management of an internationally important wetland in monsoonal Australia. In:Kusler, J. and S. Daly (eds), Proceedings of an International Symposium on Wetlands and River Corridor Management. pp. 99-98. Association of State Wetland Managers, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C.M. 1991b. Production and major nutrient composition of three grass species on the Magela floodplain, Northern Territory, Australia. Aquatic Bot. 41: 263-280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C.M. 1993. Vegetation changes and biomass on an Australian monsoonal floodplain. In:Gopal, B., Hillbricht-Ilkowska, A. and R.G. Wetzel (eds), Wetlands and Ecotones: Studies on Land-water Interactions. pp. 157-171. National Institute of Ecology, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C.M. 1995. Wetland research in the wet-dry tropics. In:Finlayson, C.M. (ed.), Wetland Research in the Wet-dry Tropics of Australia. pp. 3-11. Supervising Scientist Report 101, Barton, Australia.

  • Finlayson, C.M., Cowie, I.D. and Bailey, B.J. 1990. Sediment seed-banks in grassland on the Magela Creek floodplain, northern Australia. Aquatic Bot. 38: 163-176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C.M. and Van der Valk, A.G. (eds). 1995. Classification of the World’s Wetlands. Advances in Vegetation Science 16. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

  • Finlayson, C.M. and Woodroffe, C.D. 1996. Wetland vegetation. In:Finlayson, C. M. and I. Von Oertzen (eds), Landscape and Vegetation Ecology of the Kakadu Region, Northern Australia. pp. 81-112. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopal, B. 1991. Wetland (mis)management by keeping people out: two examples from India. Landscape and Urban Planning 20: 53-59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopal, B. and Sah, M. 1995. Inventory and classification of wetlands in India. Vegetatio 118: 39-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartshorn, G.S. 1983. Plants. In:Janzen, D.H. (ed.), Costa Rican Natural History. pp. 118-157. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, G.W. 1985. The Kafue Flats of Zambia: a wetland ecosystem comparable with floodplain areas of northern Australia. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 13: 293-306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen, D.H. 1984. Dispersal of small seeds by big herbivores: foliage is the fruit. Am. Nat. 123: 338-353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorde, D.G. and Owen, R.B. 1988. Efficiency of nutrient use by black ducks wintering in Maine. J. Wildlife Managmt. 52: 209- 214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk, W.J. 1973. Investigations on the ecology and production-biology of the “floating meadows” (Paspalum-Echinochloetum) on the middle Amazon, II. Amazoniana 4: 9-102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk, W.J. 1983. Ecology of swamps on the middle Amazon. In:Gore, A.P. (ed.), Ecosystems of the World. Mires: Swamp, Bog, Fen, and Moor. pp. 269-294. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayane, I. 1971. Hydrological regions in monsoon Asia. In:Yoshino, M.M. (ed.), Water Balance of Monsoon Asia. A Climatological Approach. pp. 287-300. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lake, P.S. 1995. Wetlands research and management in the wet-dry tropics - some thoughts on ecological patterns and processes. In:Finlayson, C.M. (ed.), Wetland Research in the Wet-dry Tropics of Australia. pp. 271-275. Supervising Scientist Report 101, Barton, Australia.

  • Landsberg, H.E., Lippman, H., Paffen, K.H. and Troll, C. 1963. World Maps of Climatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maheshwari, J.K. 1963. The Flora of Delhi. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Major, J. and Pyott, W.T. 1966. Buried viable seeds in two California bunch grass sites and their bearing on the definition of a flora. Vegetatio 13: 253-282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, D.H. 1996. Coexistence of Two Floating-leaved Species, Nymphoides indicaand Nymphoides cristata, and the Role of Seed Banks in Vegetation Dynamics at the Keoladeo National Park Wetlands, Bharatpur, India. Ph.D. dissertation, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. 105 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathis, M. 1996. Herbivory and Vegetation Dynamics in Coal Slurry Ponds Reclaimed as Wetlands. M.S. thesis, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA. 73 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, M.B. and Rodríguez, J.M. 1994. Cattail (Typha domingensis) eradication methods in the restoration of a tropical, seasonal, freshwater marsh. In:Mitsch, W.J. (ed.), Global Wetlands: Old World and New. pp. 469-482. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton, S.J. 1983. Serengeti grassland ecology: the role of composite environmental factors and contingency in community organization. Ecological Monographs 53: 291-320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcquade, C.V., Arthur, J.T. and I.J. Butterworth, I.J. 1996. Climate and hydrology. In:Finlayson, C.M. and I. Von Oertzen (eds). Landscape and Vegetation Ecology of the Kakadu Region, Northern Australia. pp. 17-35. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. 1988. Food habits of geese in northern India. J. Ecol. Soc. (India) 1: 37-45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. 1989. Succession and goose herbivory in monsoonal wetlands of the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India. Ph.D. dissertation, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA. 144 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. 1990. Effect of water depth and clipping frequency on the growth and survival of four wetland plant species. Aquatic Bot. 37: 189-196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. 1992. Habitat and food preferences of Greylag and Barheaded Geese wintering in the Keoladeo National Park, India. J. Trop. Ecol. 8: 181-193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. 1994. Management of monsoonal wetlands for Greylag (Anser anserL.) and Barheaded Geese (Anser indicusL.) in the Keoladeo National Park, India. International J. Ecol. Environmental Sci. 20: 163-171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. The water buffalo controversy in the Keoladeo National Park, India. Ecol. Modelling: in press.

  • Middleton, B.A. and Van der Valk, A.G. 1987. The food habits of Greylag and Barheaded Geese in the Keoladeo National Park, India. Wildfowl 38: 94-102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A., Van der Valk, A.G., Mason, D.H., Williams, R.L. and Davis, C.B. 1991. Vegetation dynamics and seed banks of a monsoonal wetland overgrown with Paspalum distichumL. in northern India. Aquatic Bot. 40: 239-259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, B.A. and Mason, D.M. 1992. Seed herbivory by nilgai, feral cattle, and wild boar in the Keoladeo National Park, India. Biotropica 24: 538-543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naveh, Z. 1994. From biodiversity to ecodiversity: a landscape-ecology approach to conservation and restoration. Restor. Ecol. 2: 180-189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niering, W.A. 1987. Vegetation dynamics (succession and climax) in relation to plant community management. Conserv. Biol. 1: 287-295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niering, W.A. 1994. Wetland vegetation change: a dynamic process. Wetland Journal 6: 6-15.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, T.G. and Pickett, G.A. 1992. The influence of grazing on seed production and seed banks of some African savanna grasslands. J. Applied Ecol. 29: 247-260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petraitis, P.S., Latham, R.E. and Niesenbaum, R.A. 1989. The maintenance of species diversity by disturbance. Quarterly Rev. Biol. 64: 393-418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rai, D.N. and Munshi, J.S.D. 1981. Ecological characteristics of chaurs of North Bihar. International J. Ecol. Environmental Sci. 7: 89-95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raskin, I. and Kende, H. 1985. Mechanism of aeration in rice. Science 228: 327-329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridpath, M.G. 1985. Ecology in the wet/dry tropics: how different? Proc. Ecol. Soc. Australia 13: 3-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P.J.M. and Wetzel, R.G. 1983. Growth and metabolism of Typhaspecies in relation to cutting treatments. Aquatic Bot. 15: 321-334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasser, C.E. 1994. Vegetation Dynamics in Relation to Nutrients in Floating Marshes in Louisiana, USA. Coastal Ecology Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasser, C.E., Gosselink, J.G., Swenson, E.M. and Evers, D.E. 1995. Hydrologic, vegetation, and substrate characteristics of floating marshes in sediment-rich wetland of the Mississippi River delta plain, Louisiana, USA. Wetlands Ecol. Managemt. 3: 171-187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasser, C.E., Gosselink, J.G., Swenson, E.M., Swarzenski, C.M. and Leibowitz, N.C. 1996. Vegetation, substrate and hydrology in floating marshes in the Mississippi River delta plain wetlands, USA. Vegetatio 122: 129-142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sculthorpe, C.D. 1967. The Biology of Aquatic Vascular Plants. Edward Arnold, London, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, K.P. and Pradhan, V.N. 1983. Study on growth and biomass of underground organs of Typha angustataBory & Chaub. Hydrobiologia 99: 89-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, K.P. and Kushwaha, S.P.S. 1990. Effect of cutting of above-ground organs of Typha angustataBory & Chaub on its growth and total chlorophyll content. Aquatic Bot. 36: 293-296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shukla, J.B. and Dubey, B. 1996. Effect of changing habitat on species: application to Keoladeo National Park, India. Ecol. Modelling 86: 91-99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S.P., Pahuja, S.S. and Moolani, M.K. 1976. Cultural control of Typha angustataat different stages of growth. In: Varshney, C. K. and J. Rzoska (eds), Proceedings of the Regional Seminar in Noxious Aquatic Vegetation. pp. 245-247. New Delhi, India. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sojda, R.S. and Solberg, K.L. 1993. Waterfowl Management Handbook. Management and control of cattail. Fish and Wildlife Leaflet 13.4.13. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, W.P. 1984. The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annual Rev. Ecol. System. 15: 353-391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tansley, A.G. and Adamson, R.S. 1925. Studies of the vegetation of the English chalk. III. The chalk grasslands of the Hampshire-Sussex border. J. Ecol. 13: 177-223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Valk, A.G. 1981. Succession in wetlands: a Gleasonian approach. Ecology 62: 688-696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Valk, A.G., Middleton, B.A., Williams, R.L., Mason, D.H. and Davis, C.B. 1993. The biomass of an Indian monsoonal wetland before and after being overgrown with Paspalum distichumL. Vegetatio 109: 81-90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter, H., Harnickell, E. and Muller-Dombois, D. 1975. Climate-diagram maps of the Individual Continents and the Ecological Regions of the Earth. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt, A.S. 1974. Senescence and rejuvenation in ungrazed chalk grassland (Grassland B) in Breckland: the significance of litter and moles. J. Applied Ecol. 11: 1157-1171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisner, S.E.B. 1988. Factors affecting the internal oxygen supply of Phragmites australis(Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel in situ. Aquatic Bot. 31: 329-335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisner, S.E.B. and Granéli, W. 1989. Influence of substrate conditions on the growth of Phragmites australisafter a reduction in oxygen transport to below-ground parts. Aquatic Bot. 35: 71-80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weller, M.W. 1975. Studies of cattail in relation to management for marsh wildlife. Iowa State J. Res. 49: 383-412.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, 62901-6509, USA Phone

    B. Middleton

Authors
  1. B. Middleton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Middleton, B. Succession and herbivory in monsoonal wetlands. Wetlands Ecology and Management 6, 189–202 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008495121557

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008495121557

Search

Navigation