Table 35. Survival of culm-size classes of sea oats transplants on north Padre Island. 



Culm class 



Total length 

 (feet) 



Mean net weight 

 per culm (grams) 



Percent survival 





1973 



1974 



Total 





Aug. 



Sept 



Oct 



Nov. 



Dec. 



Jan. 



Feb. 





Large 



4 to 5 



74 



10 



32 



26 



18 



4 



36 



12 



20 a 2 



Medium 



2.5 to 3.5 



27 



4 



12 



26 



22 



6 



30 



8 



15 a, b 



Small 



1.5 to 2.5 



10 



2 



24 



6 



8 



2 



8 



40 



13 b 



Very small 



<1.5 



4.5 



2 



20 



22 











2 



26 



10 b 



1. N= 50 plants. 



2. Means sharing common letters are not significantly different (P« nr). 



clumps. Most large culms are found in the center of a fairly large hummock duue and are 

 buried deeply, indicating they are several years old. Large culms had the highest average 

 survival rate, while very small culms had the lowest. Differences within months were variable 

 and no clear pattern was evident except for January. Small and very small culms were 

 probably adversely affected by sand deposition before growth had begun. The difficulty of 

 obtaining large culms, which are comparatively rare and deeply buried, negates any survival 

 benefit. Five or more small culms can easily be procured in the same time as one large culm. 

 However, large culms attained sand-trapping size faster than the smallest. 



Limited testing (2 months, 100 plants each per month) of sea oats culms with roots 

 versus without roots gave variable results. In January 1974, rooted culms of small and very 

 small sizes had 5 percent survival, while nonrooted culms of the same size had 7 percent 

 survival. In February, rooted culms had 33 percent survival compared with only 2 percent 

 for nonrooted culms. Woodhouse, Seneca, and Cooper (1968) found that nonrooted sea 

 oats culms had only slightly lower survival (87 percent versus 97 percent), and made 

 satisfactory transplants. 



(2) Bitter Panicum. In 1973, bitter panicum culms with a well developed root system 

 and without roots were compared for relative survival. In contrast to sea oats, many bitter 

 panicum culms have no roots, especially during winter when culms are brittle and easily 

 broken near the surface. Results (Table 36) showed no mean difference between the two 



Table 36. Percent survival of bitter panicum transplants on north fadre island, 1973.' 



Transplants 



Mar. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Total 2 



With roots 

 Without roots 



79 

 57 



89 

 84 



79 

 81 



28 

 46 



45 

 62 



64 

 66 



1. N = 100 plants. 



2. No significant difference (P« «,.) between totals. 



no 



