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CEGL004049 River Valley Impoundment Mudflat

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: River Valley Impoundment Mudflat

Colloquial Name: River Valley Impoundment Mudflat

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association represents shoreline vegetation typical of large mainstream and tributary reservoirs in western Tennessee and adjacent areas. This type occurs on sites which are subject to high water levels and complete inundation for much of the year, but that are drawn down in the early to mid summer. Lake margins with suitable substrate (generally silt or clay) are colonized by a variety of plant species adapted to intermittent inundation and saturated soils that are capable of completing their life cycle in a compressed growing season between drawdown and frost. The composition and structure of the vegetation are highly variable among locations and from year to year. In general, a number of short-statured annuals are characteristic, including Rotala ramosior, Lindernia dubia, Fimbristylis autumnalis, Eragrostis hypnoides, Lipocarpha micrantha, Eleocharis obtusa, Fimbristylis littoralis, and others. Several perennial species may also be encountered, especially along the upper edges and boundaries of mudflats. Species can include Alternanthera philoxeroides, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum var. lanceolatum, Juncus acuminatus, Justicia americana, Leersia oryzoides, Ludwigia spp., Panicum rigidulum, and others.

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: The composition and structure of the vegetation is highly variable among locations and from year to year. The flora of these sites has been well-documented by Webb et al. (1988). In general, a number of short-statured annuals are characteristic, including Rotala ramosior, Lindernia dubia, Fimbristylis autumnalis, Eragrostis hypnoides, Lipocarpha micrantha (= Hemicarpha micrantha), Eleocharis obtusa, Fimbristylis littoralis (= Fimbristylis miliacea), and others. Several perennial species may also be encountered, especially along the upper edges and boundaries of mudflats. Species can include Alternanthera philoxeroides, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum var. lanceolatum (= Aster simplex), Juncus acuminatus, Justicia americana, Leersia oryzoides, Ludwigia spp., Panicum rigidulum (= Panicum agrostoides), and others.

Dynamics:  Annual drawdown and inundation are the primary processes affecting this community.

Environmental Description:  This association is typical of large mainstream and tributary reservoirs in western Tennessee and adjacent areas, including Alabama and Kentucky and possibly other states. These areas are subject to high water levels and complete inundation for much of the year but are subject to drawdown in the early to mid summer (Webb et al. 1988). Lake margins with suitable substrate (generally silt or clay) are colonized by a variety of plant species adapted to intermittent inundation and saturated soils that are capable of completing their life cycle in a compressed growing season between drawdown and frost (Webb et al. 1988).

Geographic Range: No Data Available

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AL, AR, KY, TN




Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available

Grank: GNA

Greasons: No Data Available


Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available

Synonomy: = Mudflat (Webb et al. 1988a)

Concept Author(s): D. Webb et al. (1988a)

Author of Description: R. Evans

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 05-31-12

  • Baskin, C. C., J. M. Baskin, and E. W. Chester. 1993. Seed germination ecophysiology of four summer annual mudflat species of Cyperaceae. Aquatic Botany 45(1):41-52.
  • Baskin, C. C., J. M. Baskin, and E. W. Chester. 2002. Seed germination ecology of summer annual species of dewatered reservoir shorelines (mudflats), a temporally unpredictable habitat. In: E. W. Chester and J. S. Fralish, editors. Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky and Tennessee: Four decades of Tennessee Valley Authority stewardship. Miscellaneous Publication No. 16. Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay University, Clarksville, TN.
  • DeBerry, D. A., and J. E. Perry. 2005. A drawdown flora in Virginia. Castanea 70(4):276-286. [http://www.vims.edu/people/perry_je/pubs/2005DeBerry-Perry-Castanea-Drawdown%20flora.pdf]
  • Luken, J. O., and J. W Thieret. 2001. Floristic relationships of mud flats and shorelines at Cave Run Lake, Kentucky. Castanea 66(4):336-351.
  • NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
  • Webb, D. H., W. M. Dennis, and A. L. Bates. 1988a. An analysis of the plant community of mudflats of TVA mainstream reservoirs. Pages 177-198 in: D. H. Snyder, editor. Proceedings of first annual symposium on the natural history of the lower Tennessee and Cumberland river valleys. Austin Peay St. University, Clarksville, TN. 328 pp.
  • White, Jr., R. D. 2005. Vascular plant inventory and plant community classification for Fort Donelson National Battlefield. NatureServe, Durham, NC. 135 pp.