Print Report

CEGL002223 Spartina pectinata - Eleocharis spp. - Carex spp. Wet Meadow

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Prairie Cordgrass - Spikerush species - Sedge species Wet Meadow

Colloquial Name: Southern Great Plains Cordgrass Wet Prairie

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This wet grassland community is found in the southern Great Plains on deep, poorly drained soils on level to nearly level sites near lakes, seeps, or alluvial lowlands. The soils are usually inundated for short periods during the year but may be saturated for much of the growing season. In northeastern, central, and western Oklahoma (i.e., excluding the Coastal Plain and the Oklahoma panhandle), this association occurs in floodplains, backswamps, and lake margins This community is characterized by tall, dense graminoids with moderate forb diversity and few woody species. The dominant species, Spartina pectinata, can form near monocultures in some locations. Common species include Carex annectens, Carex blanda, Eleocharis spp., Juncus interior, Juncus torreyi, Panicum virgatum, Rumex altissimus, and Verbena hastata. Other characteristic species in Oklahoma include Ammannia coccinea, Paspalum laeve, Pluchea odorata, and Vernonia baldwinii, and in Kansas include Asclepias incarnata, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, Baptisia alba var. macrophylla, Helianthus grosseserratus, and Scirpus atrovirens.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: In Oklahoma, this association may contain Eleocharis montevidensis and Eleocharis tenuis.

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

Floristics: This community is characterized by tall, dense graminoids with moderate forb diversity and few woody species. The dominant species, Spartina pectinata, can form near monocultures in some locations (Johnson and Knapp 1995). Other common species include Carex annectens, Carex blanda, Eleocharis spp., Juncus interior, Juncus torreyi, Panicum virgatum, Rumex altissimus, and Verbena hastata. Other characteristic species in Oklahoma include Ammannia coccinea, Paspalum laeve, Pluchea odorata, and Vernonia baldwinii, and in Kansas include Asclepias incarnata, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum (= Aster lanceolatus), Baptisia alba var. macrophylla (= Baptisia lactea), Helianthus grosseserratus, and Scirpus atrovirens (Lauver et al. 1999).

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This community is found on deep, poorly drained soils on level to nearly level sites near lakes, seeps, or alluvial lowlands (Kuchler 1974, Johnson and Knapp 1995). The soils are usually inundated for short periods during the year, but may be saturated for much of the growing season.
Geographic Range: This wet prairie community is found in the south-central Great Plains on level, deep, poorly drained soils.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  KS, OK


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2G4

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.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation F013 2.C.4
Division 2.C.4.Nd Eastern North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division D323 2.C.4.Nd
Macrogroup 2.C.4.Nd.5 Prairie Cordgrass - Cattail species - Bulrush species Great Plains Marsh, Wet Meadow, Shrubland & Playa Macrogroup M071 2.C.4.Nd.5
Group 2.C.4.Nd.5.b Prairie Cordgrass - Slimstem Reedgrass - Sedge species Great Plains Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Seepage Fen Group G336 2.C.4.Nd.5.b
Alliance A3493 Prairie Cordgrass Great Plains Wet Meadow Alliance A3493 2.C.4.Nd.5.b
Association CEGL002223 Prairie Cordgrass - Spikerush species - Sedge species Wet Meadow CEGL002223 2.C.4.Nd.5.b
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Spartina pectinata - Eleocharis spp. - Carex spp. Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
< Freshwater Marsh (Küchler 1974)
Concept Author(s): D. Faber-Langendoen (2001)

Author of Description: J. Drake and D. Faber-Langendoen

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 12-26-96
  • Baalman, R. J. 1965. Vegetation of the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Jet, Oklahoma. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
  • Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
  • Hoagland, B. 2000. The vegetation of Oklahoma: A classification for landscape mapping and conservation planning. The Southwestern Naturalist 45(4):385-420.
  • Hoagland, B. W. 1998c. Oklahoma riparian vegetation. In: A. Fallon and M. Smolen, editors. Riparian area management handbook. Publication number E-952. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.
  • Johnson, S. R., and A. K. Knapp. 1995. The influence of fire on Spartina pectinata wetland communities in a northeastern Kansas tallgrass prairie. Canadian Journal of Botany 73:84-90.
  • Kindscher, K., H. Kilroy, J. Delisle, Q. Long, H. Loring, K. Dobbs, and J. Drake. 2011b. Vegetation mapping and classification of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: Project report. Natural Resource Report NRR/HTLN/NRR--2011/346. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 76 pp.
  • Küchler, A. W. 1974. A new vegetation map of Kansas. Ecology 55:586-604 (with map supplement).
  • Lauver, C. L., K. Kindscher, D. Faber-Langendoen, and R. Schneider. 1999. A classification of the natural vegetation of Kansas. The Southwestern Naturalist 44:421-443.
  • Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.