The Effects of a Record Flood on the Aquatic Vegetation of the Upper Mississippi River System: Some Preliminary Findings

Abstract

During 1993 the Upper Mississippi River System experienced floods of exceptional magnitude and duration, especially at its more downstream reaches. The flood had widespread effects on the vegetation. Submerged species such as Potamogeton pectinatus significantly decreased in abundance, especially at sites with more severe flooding. However, many species were able to regenerate in 1994 from seeds or storage organs. Emergent species such as Scirpus fluviatilis were similarly affected, but in the upstream reaches were able to regrow in the autumn following the flood and at many sites showed exceptionally high productivity in the following year, probably due to nutrientrich sediment deposition by the flood. Many tree species were very severely impacted, although Acer saccharinum and Populus deltoides have shown some seedling regeneration on newly deposited sediment beneath stands of mature trees, which would have out-shaded the seedlings if they had not been killed by the flood.