By Walt Fick, extension rangeland management specialist
Excessive rainfall in much of Kansas in 2019 has caused flooding. Vegetation response to flooding depends primarily on duration and frequency. Flooding impacts the amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide, temperature, and light available for photosynthesis. Impeded gas exchange results in a depletion of carbohydrate reserves, reduced energy available to the plant, disrupts cells, and impairs nutrient uptake, resulting in plant death. Loss of vegetation is also temperature dependent. It takes fewer days of submergence to cause stand loss as soil temperatures increase. Continue reading “Response of vegetation to flooding”
