Morphological Responses of Carex argyi to Water Fluctuation in Swan Islet Wetland

We choose three different inundation sites(long-term inundation,short-term inundation and no inundation) to investigate the morphological responses to temporal inundation of a perennial grass Carex argyi,a dominant species in Swan Islet Wetland,China.The results showed that plant height,leaf length,and width of leaf blade were sensitive to inundation.This sensitivity was different among the three sites.Plant height and leaf length were increased from short-term inundation but were inhibited under long-term or no inundation.Plant height reached a maximum before and after inundation and remained steady.Long-term inundation facilitated leaf extension and leaf blade width and increased the above-ground biomass of the species.Although total soil nitrogen concentration was significantly different among different sites of inundation,it had no significant effect on these sensitive characteristics of this species.Our results indicated that C.argyi could adjust their leaf shapes and resource allocation patterns to inundation at the temporal scale,which might benefit population maintenance and stability.