for organizing writing sessions with me and keeping me productive during shelter-in-place. Special thanks to Margot Buchbinder for her readiness to help me with R and offer general advice at any time. Thank you to Chahn Rattana for building my fantastic, weatherproof plant tables. Thank you to Brita Larsson for her never-ending encouragement. Thank you to Danyang Zhao and Coleen Holliday for their amenability to being roped into data recording on the weekend. Thank you to my committee member, Dr. Ed Connor, for his thoughtful guidance in experimental design and for reviewing my manuscript. Special thanks to Dr. Bob Dorazio for generously providing his statistical expertise in data analysis and R. Funding from ARCS, Northern California Botanists, and Society of Wetland Scientists was critical in supporting me through my Master's program. Thank you to my mom, dad, and entire family for believing in my abilities and supporting me financially and emotionally. Most importantly, I would like to thank my incredible advisors, Dr. vi Kathy Boyer and Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn, whose confidence in me kept me going through multiple project iterations, experimental failures, and the completion of this thesis. I am so proud of the project we created together! viiTable of Contents Certification of Approval .