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CEGL006611 Eleocharis rostellata - Spartina patens Salt Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Beaked Spikerush - Saltmeadow Cordgrass Salt Marsh
Colloquial Name: Spikerush Lawn Salt Marsh
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association is an irregularly flooded oligohaline marsh ranging discontinuously along the coast from Massachusetts to Virginia. It occurs as a narrow band in the transition zone between high salt marsh and salt shrub vegetation. Groundwater seepage dilutes tidal floodwaters. It occurs on peat or muck of variable depth over sand. It is heavily dominated by Eleocharis rostellata, growing in association with Spartina patens, Schoenoplectus pungens, Typha angustifolia, Distichlis spicata, Juncus gerardii, Cladium mariscoides, Eleocharis fallax, Lythrum lineare, Samolus valerandi ssp. parviflorus, and Galium tinctorium, and Centella erecta and Fimbristylis castanea in the southern extent of the range. Glaux maritima occurs in this association on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Baccharis halimifolia and Iva frutescens can occur sporadically. It is currently described from barrier islands along the Mid- and North Atlantic Coast.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: No Data Available
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This type represents "spikerush lawn" dominated or codominated by Eleocharis rostellata, growing in association with Spartina patens, Schoenoplectus pungens (= Scirpus pungens), Typha angustifolia, Distichlis spicata, Juncus gerardii, Cladium mariscoides, Eleocharis fallax, Lythrum lineare, Samolus valerandi ssp. parviflorus (= Samolus parviflorus), and Galium tinctorium, and Centella erecta and Fimbristylis castanea in the southern extent of the range. Baccharis halimifolia and Iva frutescens can occur sporadically.
Dynamics: This oligohaline marsh can occur in a mosaic with several other associations. The occurrence of this association is likely a result of a combination of flooding duration and flooding frequency, perhaps with relatively less frequency but a longer duration than surrounding vegetation. This association grades into Baccharis - Iva tidal shrublands.
Environmental Description: This association is an irregularly flooded high marsh. Substrate is peat or muck of variable depth over sand.
Geographic Range: This association occurs along the Atlantic Coast from Virginia and Maryland, and northward to New York and Massachusetts.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: DE, MA, MD, NJ, NY, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.686195
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3
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 | A4491 <i>Spartina patens - Juncus gerardii</i> High Salt Marsh Alliance | A4491 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.c |
| Association | CEGL006611 Beaked Spikerush - Saltmeadow Cordgrass Salt Marsh | CEGL006611 | 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: = Beaked Spikerush Brackish Tidal Marsh (Bowman 2000) [S1]
- Bowman, P. 2000. Draft classification for Delaware. Unpublished draft. Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Smyrna, DE.
- Coulling, P. P. 2002. A preliminary classification of tidal marsh, shrub swamp, and hardwood swamp vegetation and assorted non-tidal, chiefly non-maritime, herbaceous wetland communities of the Virginia Coastal Plain. October 2002. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. Natural Heritage Technical Report 02-18. 30 pp.
- Dowhan, J. J., and R. Rozsa. 1989. Flora of Fire Island, Suffolk Country, New York. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 116:265-282.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
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