Print Report
CEGL002278 Sarcocornia pacifica - (Batis maritima, Distichlis spicata) Saline Dwarf-shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Pacific Swampfire - (Turtleweed, Saltgrass) Saline Dwarf-shrubland
Colloquial Name: Salt Flat (Swampfire Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This is one of several associations found in tidally influenced hypersaline areas along the southern Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico region. In contrast to other tidal salt flats or pannes of this region, examples attributable to this type are dominated by the succulent dwarf-shrub Sarcocornia pacifica while stands dominated by Batis or Salicornia are accommodated by other associations [see ~Batis maritima - Sarcocornia pacifica Saline Dwarf-shrubland (CEGL003956)$$ and ~Salicornia (depressa, bigelovii, maritima) - Spartina alterniflora Salt Marsh (CEGL004308)$$, respectively]. Examples of this association may occur in patches throughout this relatively large range. They vary somewhat locally in expression, but all tend to exhibit low vascular plant diversity, dominated by halophytic species. In addition to Sarcocornia pacifica, other commonly encountered species may include Salicornia bigelovii, Distichlis spicata, and sometimes stunted Spartina alterniflora. Other typical species can include Batis maritima, Suaeda spp., Sporobolus virginicus, Sesuvium portulacastrum, and Limonium carolinianum. Total vegetative cover is quite variable, from near total absence of vascular plants to a dense cover of the nominal species. Algal mats are characteristically present, visible even in densely vegetated pannes. Blue-green algae may contribute significantly more biomass than vascular species.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association is dominated by Sarcocornia pacifica and may be distinguished from ~Batis maritima - Sarcocornia pacifica Saline Dwarf-shrubland (CEGL003956)$$ by the lack of dominance by Batis maritima. These two associations can be difficult to distinguish along the middle and upper Texas coast where their ranges overlap. A similar community, ~Salicornia (depressa, bigelovii, maritima) - Spartina alterniflora Salt Marsh (CEGL004308)$$, occurs along the mid- and northern Atlantic Coast.
NatureServe identified the perennial glasswort plants at Fort Pulaski as Sarcocornia pacifica using the recent key in Weakley (2007), which follows Flora of North America (FNA Editorial Committee 2003). The perennial glassworts on the U.S. East Coast have been called Sarcocornia perennis in the past (Kartesz 1999), and their taxonomy remains unsettled. For the time being, NatureServe will continue to follow the Kartesz (1999) nomenclature in our global descriptions and U.S. National Vegetation Classification association names.
NatureServe identified the perennial glasswort plants at Fort Pulaski as Sarcocornia pacifica using the recent key in Weakley (2007), which follows Flora of North America (FNA Editorial Committee 2003). The perennial glassworts on the U.S. East Coast have been called Sarcocornia perennis in the past (Kartesz 1999), and their taxonomy remains unsettled. For the time being, NatureServe will continue to follow the Kartesz (1999) nomenclature in our global descriptions and U.S. National Vegetation Classification association names.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This community is dominated by the halophytic, succulent dwarf-shrub Sarcocornia pacifica and other halophytes, including Salicornia bigelovii, Distichlis spicata, and sometimes stunted Spartina alterniflora. Other typical species can include Batis maritima, Suaeda spp., Sporobolus virginicus, Sesuvium portulacastrum, and Limonium carolinianum. Algal mats are characteristically present, visible even in densely vegetated pannes. Blue-green algae may contribute significantly more biomass than vascular species. Texas examples, of alternately wet and dry saline soils along the Gulf Coast, may contain Monanthochloe littoralis, Rayjacksonia phyllocephala (= Machaeranthera phyllocephala), Borrichia frutescens, Maytenus phyllanthoides, Suaeda spp., Sesuvium portulacastrum, and Sporobolus virginicus.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Typically, this vegetation tends to develop in lower tidal flats and shallow depressions within upper tidal flats and high salt marshes where drainage is poor. These areas flood during high tides, and salt accumulates as the water evaporates during low tides, producing hypersaline conditions, forming salt pannes.
Geographic Range: This community ranges from the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina across the Gulf of Mexico region of the United States into Mexico.
Nations: MX,US
States/Provinces: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, MXTAM, SC, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688577
Confidence Level: Low
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.b Saltwort species - Swampfire species - Gulf Cordgrass Tidal Flat & Panne Group | G123 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.b |
| Alliance | A3955 Turtleweed - Swampfire species - Saltwort species Intertidal Salt Flat Alliance | A3955 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.b |
| Association | CEGL002278 Pacific Swampfire - (Turtleweed, Saltgrass) Saline Dwarf-shrubland | CEGL002278 | 2.C.5.Nb.1.b |
Concept Lineage: Merged with this association. Includes Salicornia (bigelovii, virginica) - Batis maritima Herbaceous Vegetation (GrPl 1-95).
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- ALNHP [Alabama Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data on file. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn University.
- Ball, P. W. 2003a. Salicornia. Pages 382-384 in: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, editors. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 4. Oxford University Press, New York.
- Ball, P. W. 2003b. Sarcocornia. Pages 384-387 in: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, editors. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 4. Oxford University Press, New York.
- Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 pp.
- FNA Editorial Committee [Flora of North America Editorial Committee], editors. 2003. Flora of North America, north of Mexico. Volume 4. Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. 559 pp.
- GNHP [Georgia Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data. Georgia Natural Heritage Program, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Social Circle.
- Govus, T. E. 1998. Fort Pulaski National Monument Inventory. Final report. Purchase Order # 1443PX509097564. Prepared for National Park Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta, GA. 33 pp. plus appendices and maps.
- Kartesz, J. T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC.
- Kartesz, J. T. 2013. The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). Taxonomic Data Center. Chapel Hill, NC. [maps generated from Kartesz, J. T. 2013. Floristic synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)] [http://www.bonap.net/tdc ] (accessed 16 April 2014).
- 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.
- McManamay, R. H, A.C. Curtis, and S.C. Heath. 2013b. Vegetation mapping at Fort Pulaski National Monument. Natural Resource Report NPS/SECN/NRR--2013/718. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 180 pp.
- McManamay, R. H. 2017a. Vegetation mapping at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Natural Resource Report NPS/SECN/NRR--2017/1511. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 422 pp.
- Nelson, J. B. 1986. The natural communities of South Carolina: Initial classification and description. South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Columbia, SC. 55 pp.
- Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. No date. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- TNHS [Texas Natural History Survey]. No date. Unpublished data. Texas Natural History Survey, The Nature Conservancy, San Antonio.
- Weakley, A. S. 2007. Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and surrounding areas. Unpublished working draft of 11 January 2007. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. [http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm]
- 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.