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North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities

Publication ,  Journal Article
Clifford, CC; Heffernan, JB
Published in: Wetlands
June 1, 2023

The drainage ditches of the North Carolina Coastal Plain retain ecological structural characteristics of the wetlands they often replace. We surveyed 32 agricultural, freeway, and forested ditch reaches across this region for hydrologic indicators, soil organic matter, and plants. All showed at least some hydrologic indicators and had soil organic matter, especially swampy forests. Twenty-nine of 32 had hydrophytic herbaceous plant assemblages according to US Army Corps of Engineers wetland delineation standards. These varied and rich herbaceous assemblages differed among site types, and sorted according to influences including apparent human restriction of vegetation growth, wetness, and surrounding land use. These results suggest that management can nudge agricultural and freeway ditch herbaceous communities to resemble those of forests, which were typically more hydrophytic and native. The US National Hydrography Dataset and the National Wetlands Inventory excluded most sample sites, and mischaracterized most they did include as natural waterbodies. This lack appears not to arise from technical limitations; data and tools to resolve it are well established. These ditches’ underrecognized but likely vast extent, wide ranges of variability, and apparent response to management suggest that humans’ ability to cultivate wetland structure in these manmade aquatic ecosystems throughout the North Carolina Coastal Plain and beyond is already immense, with even larger potential.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Wetlands

DOI

EISSN

1943-6246

ISSN

0277-5212

Publication Date

June 1, 2023

Volume

43

Issue

5

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
  • 04 Earth Sciences
 

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Clifford, C. C., & Heffernan, J. B. (2023). North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities. Wetlands, 43(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01703-5
Clifford, C. C., and J. B. Heffernan. “North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities.” Wetlands 43, no. 5 (June 1, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01703-5.
Clifford CC, Heffernan JB. North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities. Wetlands. 2023 Jun 1;43(5).
Clifford, C. C., and J. B. Heffernan. “North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities.” Wetlands, vol. 43, no. 5, June 2023. Scopus, doi:10.1007/s13157-023-01703-5.
Clifford CC, Heffernan JB. North Carolina Coastal Plain Ditch Types Support Distinct Hydrophytic Communities. Wetlands. 2023 Jun 1;43(5).
Journal cover image

Published In

Wetlands

DOI

EISSN

1943-6246

ISSN

0277-5212

Publication Date

June 1, 2023

Volume

43

Issue

5

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
  • 04 Earth Sciences