Floristic analysis and vascular plant succession of dredge material in navigation pool 8 on the Upper Mississippi River with respect to age and elevation

Abstract

To maintain the channel depth necessary for the transportation of heavy, high volume commodities by barges and towboats, dredging of the Mississippi River is conducted by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers. The material dredged from the channel is placed on islands in the river and along the shoreline resulting in the destruction of most of the vegetation previously growing on the site. With support of the Waterways Experiment Station at Vicksburg, Mississippi the flora of the dredge material deposition sites in Navigation Pool 8 of the upper Mississippi River was determined. By utilizing the ages of the sites, their elevations above mean sea level, and community associations of the specimens collected, a determination was made of the primary colonizers of the various habitats found on dredge material.