How do water regime and grazing interact to affect plant germination, establishment and reproduction?
An outdoor tank trial was designed to test the interaction of clipping and water regime on plant community establishment and reproduction (Attachment j). This 4 months trial was harvested in autumn 1999. Water regimes were altered weekly by changing the suspension levels of pots in outdoor tanks. Each tank contained pots with each of six water regimes and two clipping treatments (clipped and unclipped). Six replicate tanks of seed bank and established plant material were used. Six water regimes simulated aspects of the water regimes in the UNE Experimental Wetlands (Figure 16). Results (Figure 17) suggest that: • Water regime influenced both species presence or absence and the mode of reproduction as evidenced by: • The number of species reproducing sexually was greater when vegetation was exposed (i.e. not flooded), • Species were just as likely to reproduce vegetatively when flooded as when damp. • Within a water regime clipping influenced mode of reproduction as evidenced by: • Spec
