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CEGL004755 Spartina patens - Schoenoplectus (americanus, pungens) - (Distichlis spicata) Salt Marsh

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Saltmeadow Cordgrass - (Chairmaker''s Bulrush, Common Threesquare) - (Saltgrass) Salt Marsh

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This represents brackish marsh vegetation (mesohaline) of the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Spartina patens dominates in this rarely flooded high marsh zone. Other species that may be present in variable amounts include Distichlis spicata, Juncus roemerianus, Vigna luteola, Typha spp., Phragmites australis, Spartina alterniflora, Lythrum lineare, Lythrum alatum var. lanceolatum, Cyperus articulatus, Kosteletzkya virginica, Spartina cynosuroides (within its range), Paspalum vaginatum, Borrichia frutescens, Baccharis halimifolia, Schoenoplectus americanus, Schoenoplectus pungens, Bolboschoenus robustus, Ipomoea sagittata, and Eleocharis parvula. This zone grades down into vegetation dominated by Juncus roemerianus or Spartina alterniflora, and up into shrub-dominated zones or saline prairie. The woody shrub component of this zone is diminished by storm tides, as well as the effects of fire. Longer fire intervals have led to greater encroachment of shrubs. In coastal Louisiana and Texas, this is a common, very brackish marsh type, often interspersed with ~Spartina alterniflora - Distichlis spicata - Spartina patens Mesohaline Salt Marsh (CEGL002230)$$. It is found in both the Deltaic and Chenier plains of Louisiana. More information is needed on this vegetation type. Composition and relative dominance vary considerably from the Deltaic Plain to the Chenier Plain and Coastal Plain of Texas.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This type in the East Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi does not appear to be as salty as the Louisiana type. Is this the same? The use of prescribed fire by land managers in this community affects the relative abundance of Schoenoplectus americanus; this relationship needs to be further explored and described (J. Teague pers. comm.).

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This association is dominated by Spartina patens. Other species that may be present in variable amounts include Distichlis spicata, Juncus roemerianus, Vigna luteola, Typha spp., Phragmites australis, Spartina alterniflora, Lythrum lineare, Lythrum alatum var. lanceolatum, Cyperus articulatus, Kosteletzkya virginica, Spartina cynosuroides (within its range), Paspalum vaginatum, Borrichia frutescens, Baccharis halimifolia, Schoenoplectus americanus (= Scirpus americanus), Schoenoplectus pungens (= Scirpus pungens), Bolboschoenus robustus (= Schoenoplectus robustus), Ipomoea sagittata, and Eleocharis parvula. In coastal Louisiana and Texas, this is a common, very brackish marsh type, often interspersed with ~Spartina alterniflora - Distichlis spicata - Spartina patens Mesohaline Salt Marsh (CEGL002230)$$. In the Deltaic Plain, the type is clearly dominated by Spartina patens with Schoenoplectus americanus (= Scirpus olneyi) as the most common associate, while in the Chenier Plain of Louisiana, the two species are characteristically codominant. Species richness in the type is low.

Dynamics:  Dominance patterns are likely related to gradients in salinity and hydrology and are poorly understood.
Environmental Description:  This community is found in irregularly flooded high marsh zones. This zone grades down into vegetation dominated by Juncus roemerianus or Spartina alterniflora, and up into shrub-dominated zones or saline prairie.
Geographic Range: This association is found in the coastal marshes of the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AL, LA, MS, TX


Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G4?

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class C02 2
Subclass 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass S44 2.C
Formation 2.C.5 Salt Marsh Formation F035 2.C.5
Division 2.C.5.Nb North American Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Salt Marsh Division D034 2.C.5.Nb
Macrogroup 2.C.5.Nb.1 North American Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Salt Marsh Macrogroup M079 2.C.5.Nb.1
Group 2.C.5.Nb.1.c Saltmeadow Cordgrass - Jesuit''s-bark High Salt Marsh Group G121 2.C.5.Nb.1.c
Alliance A4490 <i>Spartina patens - Juncus roemerianus</i> High Salt Marsh Alliance A4490 2.C.5.Nb.1.c
Association CEGL004755 Saltmeadow Cordgrass - (Chairmaker''s Bulrush, Common Threesquare) - (Saltgrass) Salt Marsh CEGL004755 2.C.5.Nb.1.c
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < IIIC1a. Salt Marsh (Allard 1990)
? Mesohaline Wiregrass Marsh (Visser and Sasser 1998)
< Saline Marsh (Wieland 1994a)
Concept Author(s): R. Wieland and M. Pyne

Author of Description: R. Wieland, M. Pyne, L.M. Smith

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 04-01-99
  • ALNHP [Alabama Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data on file. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn University.
  • Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.
  • Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 pp.
  • LNHP [Louisiana Natural Heritage Program]. 2009. Natural communities of Louisiana. Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Baton Rouge. 46 pp. [http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/page_wildlife/6776-Rare%20Natural%20Communities/LA_NAT_COM.pdf]
  • MSNHP [Mississippi Natural Heritage Program]. 2006. Ecological communities of Mississippi. Museum of Natural Science, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Jackson, MS. 9 pp.
  • Smith, L. 1999. Coastal marsh types currently recognized in Louisiana and relationships with existing types in ICEC-TNC. Draft report. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Natural Heritage Program, Baton Rouge. 20 pp.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
  • Visser, J. M., C. E. Sasser, R. H. Chabreck, and R. G. Linscombe. 1998. Marsh vegetation types of the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Estuaries 21(48):818-828.
  • Visser, J. M., and C. E. Sasser. 1998. 1997 Coastal vegetation analysis. Unpublished report to Greg Steyer, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, LA. Draft report November 20, 1998. 47 pp.
  • Wieland, R. G. 1994a. Marine and estuarine habitat types and associated ecological communities of the Mississippi Coast. Museum Technical Report 25. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Museum of Natural Science, Jackson, MS. 270 pp.