Print Report

CEGL002230 Spartina alterniflora - Distichlis spicata - Spartina patens Mesohaline Salt Marsh

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Smooth Cordgrass - Saltgrass - Saltmeadow Cordgrass Mesohaline Salt Marsh

Colloquial Name: Cordgrass - Saltgrass Mesohaline Salt Marsh

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community is a common marsh type of coastal Louisiana and Texas, occurring just inland of salt marsh. It appears to be a transitional type between salt marsh and brackish marsh or high salt marsh. It is found in both the Deltaic and Chenier plains in Louisiana and along the central and upper coast of Texas. Species richness is characteristically quite low. This marsh is characterized by a more-or-less equal codominance of Spartina alterniflora, Distichlis spicata and Spartina patens. Distichlis spicata often forms pure stands. Juncus roemerianus is often quite abundant as well. Other common species include Bolboschoenus robustus, Schoenoplectus americanus, Suaeda linearis, Batis maritima, Baccharis halimifolia, Borrichia frutescens, Iva frutescens, Spartina cynosuroides (within its range), Spartina spartinae, Paspalum spp., Eragrostis spp., and others.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: C. Sasser (pers. comm.) says this is a distinct type.

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

Floristics: This marsh is characterized by a more-or-less equal codominance of Spartina alterniflora, Distichlis spicata and Spartina patens. Distichlis spicata often forms pure stands. Juncus roemerianus is often quite abundant as well. Other common species include Bolboschoenus robustus (= Scirpus robustus), Schoenoplectus americanus (= Scirpus americanus), Suaeda linearis, Batis maritima, Baccharis halimifolia, Borrichia frutescens, Iva frutescens, Spartina cynosuroides (within its range), Spartina spartinae, Paspalum spp., Eragrostis spp., and others. Along the central and upper Texas coast, Spartina alterniflora may dominate in a narrow band just along the waters edge, especially on the bay side of barrier islands.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  In coastal Louisiana where salt marshes are well developed, this community occupies a transitional zone between polyhaline and mesohaline marshes. In coastal Texas where salt marshes are less well developed, this community may grade directly into open water.
Geographic Range: This community is known from the coastal marshes of the central and upper Texas coast and the Chenier and Deltaic plains of Louisiana.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  LA, TX


Confidence Level: Moderate

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 CEGL002230 Smooth Cordgrass - Saltgrass - Saltmeadow Cordgrass Mesohaline Salt Marsh CEGL002230 2.C.5.Nb.1.c
Concept Lineage: merged

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Mesohaline Mix (Visser et al. 1998)
= Mesohaline Mixture (Visser et al. 2000)
? Mesohaline Mixture Marsh (Visser and Sasser 1998)
Concept Author(s): Great Plains Program

Author of Description: L.M. Smith

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-01-95
  • 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]
  • 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., C. E. Sasser, R. H. Chabreck, and R. G. Linscombe. 2000. Marsh vegetation types of the Chenier Plain, Louisiana, USA. Estuaries 23(3):318-327.
  • 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.