Species differ sharply in flood tolerance that explains their cliff elevation

Evidence

One day in late summer I noticed a wad of grass snagged on a branch high above my head—a high-water mark. Clearly the river was not always at wading depth. Perhaps the vertical stratification was due to differences in how the species tolerated flooding. I collected clumps of each species and submerged them in pans of water for various times: 12, 24, 48 hours. The Fissidens remained perfectly healthy even after three days, as did Gymnostomum. But after only 24 hours the Conocephalum was black and slimy. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 296

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Direct competition experiments reveal interspecies dominance obscured in the field — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 294; A real flood confirmed the lab-tested flood-tolerance and disturbance pattern — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 304; Tree species differ sharply in shade tolerance for seedling establishment — Vinson Brown, Reading the Woods: Seeing More in…, 129

Broader Connections

• Tree species differ sharply in shade tolerance for seedling establishment #epitomizes (0.85) — Vinson Brown, Reading the Woods, 129