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CEGL006368 Spartina patens - Festuca rubra - (Spartina pectinata) Salt Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Saltmeadow Cordgrass - Red Fescue - (Prairie Cordgrass) Salt Marsh
Colloquial Name: Northern Brackish Meadow
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This oligohaline to mesohaline marsh occurs as a narrow band at the border between high salt marsh and the adjacent uplands in northern New England. Salinity input is a result of irregular flooding by spring tides and storm surges with freshwater input from runoff or groundwater discharge. Substrate is peat that is drier than that of high salt marsh vegetation. Small pannes tend to form in this marsh; they can be rather temporary. Local dominants include Agrostis stolonifera, Juncus gerardii, and Spartina patens. Associated species include Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, Solidago sempervirens, Festuca rubra, Spartina pectinata, and Bolboschoenus robustus. In wetter areas, Carex paleacea can be strongly dominant. In ponded, but less frequently flooded areas, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani and/or Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis can be locally dominant. Species occurring less frequently can include Schoenoplectus pungens, Distichlis spicata, Triglochin maritima, Argentina anserina, Carex hormathodes, Ranunculus sceleratus, Panicum virgatum, Amaranthus cannabinus, Hierochloe odorata, Elymus virginicus, Teucrium canadense, Iris versicolor, Cuscuta gronovii, Impatiens capensis, Acorus calamus, Calystegia sepium, Typha angustifolia, Sanguisorba canadensis, and Phragmites australis. Local pannes can form within this marsh community with distinctly different species composition.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association is the northern analog of ~Panicum virgatum - Spartina patens - Carex silicea Salt Marsh (CEGL006150)$$. Panicum virgatum is a component of this association, but is not dominant.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This marsh is dominated by graminoids and has several variants. Local dominants include Agrostis stolonifera, Juncus gerardii, and Spartina patens. Associated species include Symphyotrichum novi-belgii (= Aster novi-belgii), Solidago sempervirens, Festuca rubra, Spartina pectinata, and Bolboschoenus robustus (= Schoenoplectus robustus). In wetter areas, Carex paleacea can be strongly dominant. In ponded, but less frequently flooded areas, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (= Scirpus tabernaemontani) and/or Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis can be locally dominant. Species occurring less frequently can include Schoenoplectus pungens, Distichlis spicata, Triglochin maritima, Argentina anserina (= Potentilla anserina), Carex hormathodes, Ranunculus sceleratus, Panicum virgatum, Amaranthus cannabinus, Hierochloe odorata, Elymus virginicus, Teucrium canadense, Iris versicolor, Cuscuta gronovii, Impatiens capensis, Acorus calamus, Calystegia sepium, Typha angustifolia, Sanguisorba canadensis, and Phragmites australis. Local pannes can form within this marsh community with distinctly different species composition.
Dynamics: This brackish marsh grades into high marsh vegetation dominated by Spartina patens.
Environmental Description: This oligohaline to mesohaline marsh occurs as a narrow band at the border between high salt marsh and the adjacent uplands. Salinity input is from irregular flooding by spring tides and storm surges with freshwater input from runoff or groundwater discharge. Substrate is peat that is drier than that of high salt marsh vegetation. Small pannes tend to form in this marsh; they can be rather temporary.
Geographic Range: This association is currently described from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: MA, ME, NH, QC
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687568
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
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.d Southern Cattail - Bulrush species - Awl-leaf Arrowhead Tidal Salt Marsh Group | G120 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.d |
| Alliance | A4493 <i>Spartina alterniflora - Spartina cynosuroides - Carex paleacea</i> Brackish Tidal Marsh Alliance | A4493 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.d |
| Association | CEGL006368 Saltmeadow Cordgrass - Red Fescue - (Prairie Cordgrass) Salt Marsh | CEGL006368 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Spartina patens - Festuca rubra - (Spartina pectinata) Herbaceous Vegetation (Sneddon and Zaremba 2004)
? Brackish Tidal Marsh (Rawinski 1984a) [formerly Southern New England and Gulf of Maine.]
? Brackish Tidal Marsh (Rawinski 1984a) [formerly Southern New England and Gulf of Maine.]
- CDPNQ [Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec]. No date. Unpublished data. Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec, Québec.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- Nichols, B. Personal communication. Ecologist/Botanist. New Hampshire Natural Heritage Inventory. Concord, NH.
- Rawinski, T. 1984a. Natural community description abstract - southern New England calcareous seepage swamp. Unpublished report. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA. 6 pp.
- Sneddon, L. A., Zaremba, R. E., and M. Adams. 2010. Vegetation classification and mapping at Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts. Natural Resources Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2010/147. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 481 pp. [http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/caco/cacorpt.pdf]
- Sneddon, L., and R. Zaremba. 2004. Vegetation classification of Cape Cod National Seashore. U.S. Geological Survey-National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Program. 240 pp.
- Sperduto, D. D., and W. F. Nichols. 2004. Natural communities of New Hampshire: A guide and classification. New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau, DRED Division of Forests and Lands, Concord. 242 pp.
- Swain, P. C., and J. B. Kearsley. 2014. Classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts. Version 2.0. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Westborough, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/nhesp/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/natural-communities/classification-of-natural-communities.html]