A literature review of the effects of waves on aquatic plants 


Kimber, A., and J. W. Barko.  1994.  A literature review of the
effects of waves on aquatic plants.  Report by Iowa State
University and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways
Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi,  and National
Biological Survey, Environmental Management Technical Center,
Onalaska, Wisconsin, for the National Biological Survey,
Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin,
August 1994.  LTRMP 94-S002.  25 pp.  (NTIS #PB95-108338)


ABSTRACT

This report embodies a review describing the potential impacts on
aquatic vegetation from waves generated by commercial and
recreational vessel traffic, and contrasts these impacts with
effects of natural forces.  The review was undertaken as part of
a Corps of Engineers study on navigation impacts on the Upper
Mississippi River.  Interactions between waves and aquatic
vegetation are summarized in the report.  Waves act directly by
uprooting or fragmenting plants.  Wave action can resuspend and
transport sediments, resulting in altered sediment texture and
sediment resuspension.  Changes in sediment texture potentially
affect plant nutrition.  Resuspended sediments can limit plant
photosynthesis, due to reduced availability of underwater light. 
Wave energy can also be important in the burial or dispersal of
plant propagules.  Changes in wave energy regimes may affect
plant species composition and abundance, potentially leading to
changes in other components of aquatic systems.  While affected
by wave energy, aquatic plants also dissipate this energy which,
in turn, may result in localized areas of decreased sediment
resuspension and increased sediment accretion.  Thus, effects of
wave energy on aquatic vegetation can be expected to vary with
differences in plant abundance as well as position with respect
to wave regimes. 


KEYWORDS

navigation, wave energy, aquatic plants, hydrology, sediment,
habitat, river