Vegetation and water characteristics of floating mat in a coastal lagoon as the habitat for endangered plant species

Background To understand the ecological characteristics of floating mat in which endangered species of Iris laevigata and Menyanthes trifoliata inhabit, we surveyed the vegetation and water environments of a floating mat wetland and examined the relations between ecological characteristics of the mat. Results Although Phragmites australis and Zizania latifolia were found at all experimental quadrats (n = 61) as the major vegetational components of the floating mat wetland, they showed relatively poor growth performances in terms of shoot height (