Atrotorquata lineata as a proxy
for Juncus roemerianus, Part I:
Atrotorquata lineata as a proxy for Juncus
roemerianus in surface sediments from high-level
salt marshes in the southeastern United States
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1
University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208 USA; 1105 Oak St. Ocean Springs,
MS 39564 USA
2
University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208 USA; Wetland Surveys,
36750 US 19 N. #3044, Palm Harbor, FL 34684 USA
Online publication date: 2016-12-13
Publication date: 2016-12-13
Acta Palaeobotanica 2016; 56(2): 523-535
ABSTRACT
Juncus roemerianus is a plant that occurs at the upper reaches of salt water influence in marshes
from Delaware to Texas. In 2006 a palynomorphic fingerprint to identify surface sediment from J. roemerianus
marshes was discovered in a South Carolina study (Marsh 2006, Marsh & Cohen 2008). This fingerprint had four
components: (1) high palynomorphic abundance, (2) high palynomorphic diversity, (3) high concentration of Fungal
Type A (greater than 10% of the palynomorphs in a given sample) and (4) the presence of the spores of the fungus
Atrotorquata lineata, which occurred in the sediments of J. roemerianus marshes but not in the sediments collected
from any other marsh type, even in sediments collected less than a meter away from J. roemerianus.
The present study was designed to determine whether (1) Atrotorquata lineata occurs in all present-day
Juncus roemerianus marshes regardless of geographic location within the range of the plant, and whether
(2) A. lineata is ubiquitous in all surface sediments beneath J. roemerianus regardless of the location of the
sample in the marsh. As a result of these two findings, A. lineata can be considered a proxy for the presence
of J. roemerianus throughout its range.
To test the first hypothesis, 93 surface samples were obtained from Juncus roemerianus marshes throughout
the range of the plant (Delaware to Texas). Atrotorquata lineata was found in all samples from this range except
for those from the northeasternmost end of the range (Virginia and Delaware). A new hypothesis is proposed
that temperature may be the factor that explains the loss of the fungal proxy at this northeastern boundary.
Furthermore, evidence is presented that geomorphologic and sedimentological factors, such as type of substrate,
distance from the ocean, position relative to the shoreline, distance from tidal streams, amount of urbanization,
tidal range, or wave fetch, were found to have no impact on the presence or absence of A. lineata.
To test the second hypothesis, concerning whether Atrotorquata lineata was present in all parts of a Juncus
stand, surface sediments from a 183 m transect across a monospecific Juncus roemerianus marsh were sampled
at 15 m intervals. A. lineata was found in all samples regardless of position in the stand.
The results of this study show that Atrotorquata lineata is omnipresent in sediment from Juncus roemerianus
marshes throughout all but the most northern edge of the range of J. roemerianus and that it was present
across the entire extent of a stand of Juncus roemerianus. Therefore, A. lineata by itself can in fact be considered
a proxy for J. roemerianus.
CITATIONS (1):
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Modern pollen- and phytolith-vegetation relationships at a wetland in northeastern South Africa
J.O. Olatoyan, F.H. Neumann, E.A. Orijemie, C. Sievers, M. Evans, T. Hattingh, M.H. Schoeman
South African Journal of Botany