How to translate text using browser tools
7 December 2016 The effect of Superstorm Sandy on salt marsh vascular flora in the New York Bight
Joseph W. Rachlin
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy crashed into the New York Bight as a post-tropical cyclone. This storm produced extensive damage to the New Jersey and New York coastal zone. Much of the damage was caused by the storm surge that accompanied Sandy and the shifting of sand and destruction of coastal dunes. Our study was concerned with the effects that this event had on the vascular flora of the salt marshes in the impact zone. We visited six New Jersey-New York marshes in the late summer and early fall of 2013 and compared, using parsimony analysis, the current state of the vascular flora of those marshes against a pre-Sandy database. Although we observed relatively minor variations in the vascular flora at these sites, that is, the loss of some species and gains in others, overall, most plant species post-Sandy was the same as those pre-Sandy. Thus, we conclude that the species composition of the vascular flora of these salt marshes showed a remarkable degree of stability in the face of this catastrophic disturbance.

©Copyright 2017 by The Torrey Botanical Society
Joseph W. Rachlin "The effect of Superstorm Sandy on salt marsh vascular flora in the New York Bight," The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 144(1), 40-46, (7 December 2016). https://doi.org/10.3159/TORREY-D-15-00033.1
Received: 24 June 2015; Published: 7 December 2016
KEYWORDS
Parsimony analysis
Salt marshes
Superstorm Sandy
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top