Summary of vegetation sampling for selected transects in Pool 8, Upper Mississippi River System, 1990

Vegetation, fish, and water quality were the three components
chosen for data collection for the Long Term Resource Monitoring
Program during 1990.  This report represents the vegetation aspect
of the study done on Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River System. 
The purpose of the vegetation effort is to conduct a baseline study
to document the abundance and distribution of Pool 8 terrestrial
and aquatic vegetation during the next decade.      Quantitative
sampling along transects in 1990 provided descriptive summaries of
species occurrence for selected locations within the pool.  Five
transects were chosen to represent Pool 8.  The transects were
divided into plant communities (polygons).  One hundred forty-two
aquatic polygons and 70 terrestrial polygons were encountered along
the transects.  Flowering, fruiting, and vegetative specimens were
collected from the transects as well as from other areas of Pool 8. 
Ninety-five species from 51 families were found.   The most common
plant communities in Pool 8 in 1990 were wet meadow, floodplain
forest, shallow marsh, and deep marsh.  Phalaris arundinacea was
the dominant species in wet meadow communities.  Within the
floodplain forest community, Acer saccharinum was the most common
species.  The most abundant species encountered in the shallow
marsh community was Sagittaria latifolia.  Ceratophyllum demersum
was the most frequent species in deep marsh communities.