© 1996 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Interaction of flooding and salinity stress on baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
James A. Allen (1), S. Reza Pezeshki (2) and Jim L. Chambers (3)
1. National Biological Service, Southern Science Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506, USA / 2. Biology Department, Division of Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA / 3. School of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, Louisiana State University, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Baton Rouge,
LA 70803, USA / Received March 2, 1995
Summary
Coastal wetlands of the southeastern United States are threatened by increases in flooding and salinity as a result of both
natural processes and man-induced hydrologic alterations. Furthermore, global climate change scenarios suggest that, as a
consequence of rising sea levels, much larger areas of coastal wetlands may be affected by flooding and salinity in the next
50 to 100 years. In this paper, we review studies designed to improve our ability to predict and ameliorate the impacts of
increased flooding and salinity stress on baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.), which is a dominant species of many coastal forested wetlands. Specifically, we review studies on species-level
responses to flooding and salinity stress, alone and in combination, we summarize two studies on intraspecific variation in
response to flooding and salinity stress, we analyze the physiological mechanisms thought to be responsible for the interaction
between flooding and salinity stress, and we discuss the implications for coastal wetland loss and the prospects for developing
salt-tolerant lines of baldcypress.
Keywords:
multiple stress, salt tolerance, stress interaction, waterlogging.
