and varied from 2,000 parts per million to over 18,000 parts per million 

 during 2 years of monitoring. Soil cation concentrations reflected water 

 salinity and the effects of evaporation from the soil surface. 



Tidal ranges throughout Galveston Bay are generally less than 0.45 

 meter (Bobb and Boland, 1970). However, tidal amplitude is often 

 affected by windspeed and direction. Two principal wind directions 

 dominate the East Bay area. Persistent, southeasterly winds occur from 

 March to 1 December and short-lived but strong northerly winds from 

 December to 1 March (Fisher, et al., 1972). North winds in winter tend 

 to cause abnormal and prolonged low tides. Strong southerly winds often 

 cause abnormally high tides. 



The Galveston area has relatively high humidity and receives about 

 102 centimeters of rain annually (National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, 1975) . Since the vegetation and soil types change along 

 a north-south gradient, this study was confined to the upper Texas gulf 

 coast and more specifically to East Bay in the Galveston-Houston area. 



III. PROCEDURES 



Block XVII (Fig. 2) was initially sloped with a bulldozer to a 10:1 

 slope in March 1974 and hand-planted with 12 plant species (Dodd and 

 Webb, 1975) . All plants were washed out or killed in the lower and middle 

 zones and a cut-bank was formed. In July 19 75 this block was re-sloped 

 to an approximate 2-percent slope. The 45 . 7-meter-wide planted area was 

 protected from wave action by threading one tier of tires on a cable and 

 attaching the cable to metal posts driven into the bay bottom. Saltgrass, 

 smooth cordgrass, marshhay cordgrass, and gulf cordgrass were planted in 

 rows perpendicular to the shoreline. The rows extended from below low 

 tide to above high tide. Saltcedar (Tamarix gallica] cuttings were 

 planted later. Some survival was initially recorded (Webb and Dodd, 1976) 

 However, due to the sinking of the tires, most of this planting was lost 

 to wave action and the remaining plants were removed. 



In May 1976 a second tier of tires was placed above the existing 

 tires (Fig. 3) . A 55- by 31-meter area was planted with 48 rows of 

 smooth cordgrass parallel to the shoreline at approximately 0.5-meter 

 intervals. Single culms (stems) of local native plants were used as 

 transplant material. Marshhay cordgrass, gulf cordgrass, saltgrass, 

 and needlegrass rush [Juncus roemerianus) were planted in the upper half 

 of the block. These four species were alternately placed between smooth 

 cordgrass plants in rows perpendicular to shoreline. Planting was 

 accomplished from 28 May to 2 June 1976. Time and cost for site prepara- 

 tion, construction of wave-stilling device, and planting were recorded. 



The study block was divided into 10 plots perpendicular to the 

 shoreline so that one row each of marshhay cordgrass, gulf cordgrass, 

 saltgrass, and needlegrass rush was located in each plot. Six plots 

 in the middle of the block were fenced with a .9-meter-high, 5-centimeter 

 mesh wire to keep rabbits out. 



