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CEGL002885 Salicornia depressa - Frankenia salina - Suaeda californica Salt Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Virginia Glasswort - Alkali Sea-heath - California Sea-blite Salt Marsh
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association is only known from the Santa Monica Mountains region. It occurs on flat to gently sloped ground at low elevations between 0 and 6 m. Salicornia depressa is characteristically abundant and dominant in the herbaceous layer, while Frankenia salina and Suaeda californica are characteristically found in the shrub layer at low cover.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association is probably the most extensive of this Salicornia alliance locally. It was found to have significant variability ranging from stands strongly dominated by Salicornia depressa to stands with little cover of this species to stands with codominance of the three nominal species. The field crews placed Salicornia in the shrub layer upon doing species cover and total shrub cover estimates, while many species in this genus are traditionally considered perennial herbaceous vegetation. Both Frankenia salina and Suaeda californica occurred in about 80-90% of the stands averaging 1 to 5% cover, while Distichlis spicata occurred in less than 40% of the stands, thus separating this association from ~Salicornia depressa - Distichlis spicata - Jaumea carnosa Tidal Salt Marsh (CEGL003466)$$. It does not contain marsh edge species as does ~Salicornia depressa - Brassica nigra Salt Marsh (CEGL002923)$$. The presence of Batis maritima in >50% of the samples suggests that this is a core marsh association with less dry periods than those associations with high frequencies of Distichlis spicata.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Stands of this association at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area form an open to intermittent herbaceous layer (1-65%, mean 35.9%) at 0.01-0.5 m tall. The shrub layer is sparse to continuous (0-67%, mean 11.1%) at 0-1 m tall. Total vegetation cover is 13-70%; mean cover is 47%. In this association, the herbaceous layer is open to intermittent and is dominated by Salicornia depressa (= Salicornia virginica). It also occasionally contains Distichlis spicata, Triglochin concinna, and Limonium californicum at low cover. The shrub layer characteristically includes Frankenia salina and Suaeda californica at low cover.
Dynamics: Until further inventory is completed, there is no global information.
Environmental Description: Until further inventory is completed, there is no global information.
Geographic Range: This association is only known from the Santa Monica Mountains region. Information about its global distribution is not available without additional inventory.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: CA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.788795
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
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.Nc Temperate & Boreal Pacific Coastal Salt Marsh Division | D035 | 2.C.5.Nc |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.5.Nc.1 North American Pacific Coastal Salt Marsh Macrogroup | M081 | 2.C.5.Nc.1 |
| Group | 2.C.5.Nc.1.a Lyngbye''s Sedge - Cosmopolitan Bulrush - Sea-milkwort Salt Marsh Group | G499 | 2.C.5.Nc.1.a |
| Alliance | A3902 Pacific Swampfire - California Cordgrass - Sea-milkwort Salt Marsh Alliance | A3902 | 2.C.5.Nc.1.a |
| Association | CEGL002885 Virginia Glasswort - Alkali Sea-heath - California Sea-blite Salt Marsh | CEGL002885 | 2.C.5.Nc.1.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Salicornia virginica-Frankenia salina-Suaeda taxifolia (synonym Suaeda californica var. taxifolia) Herbaceous Association (Keeler-Wolf and Evens 2006)
= Sarcocornia pacifica - Frankenia salina - Suaeda taxifolia (Sawyer et al. 2009) [52.215.21]
>< Coastal Brackish Marsh (#52200) (Holland 1986b)
>< Coastal Salt Marsh (#52100) (Holland 1986b)
= Sarcocornia pacifica - Frankenia salina - Suaeda taxifolia (Sawyer et al. 2009) [52.215.21]
>< Coastal Brackish Marsh (#52200) (Holland 1986b)
>< Coastal Salt Marsh (#52100) (Holland 1986b)
- 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.
- Holland, R. F. 1986b. Preliminary descriptions of the terrestrial natural communities of California. Unpublished report prepared for the California Department of Fish and Game, Nongame-Heritage Program and Natural Diversity Database, Sacramento. 156 pp.
- Keeler-Wolf, T., and J. Evens. 2006. Vegetation classification of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and environs in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, California. A report submitted to National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by California Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife and Habitat Data Analysis Branch and The California Native Plant Society, Vegetation Program, Sacramento, CA.
- Sawyer, J. O., T. Keeler-Wolf, and J. Evens. 2009. A manual of California vegetation. Second edition. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento CA. 1300 pp.
- Weakley, A. S. 2012. Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and surrounding areas. Unpublished working draft. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. [http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm]
- Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.
- Zedler, J. B. 1982. The ecology of southern California coastal salt marshes: A community profile. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Services Program, Washington, D.C. FWS/OBS-81/54. 110 pp.