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G121 Spartina patens - Iva frutescens High Salt Marsh Group
Type Concept Sentence: These are upper herbaceous or herb-shrub zones of salt marshes found along the North American Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts from the Bay of Fundy to Texas, dominated by species such as Distichlis spicata, Iva frutescens, Salicornia spp., and Spartina patens.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Saltmeadow Cordgrass - Jesuit''s-bark High Salt Marsh Group
Colloquial Name: Atlantic & Gulf Coastal High Salt Marsh
Hierarchy Level: Group
Type Concept: This group encompasses vegetation in the regularly flooded, upper herbaceous or herb-shrub zones of salt marshes of the Atlantic Coast of temperate North America subject to polyhaline tidal waters. Dominance is most often by graminoids, with Spartina patens usually present and often dominant. Other characteristic species include Distichlis spicata and Salicornia spp. A fringe of shrub-herb vegetation, or sometimes more extensive areas of salt-tolerant shrubs, is common at the upper edges of the high marsh zone. High marsh vegetation generally develops between the levels of an area''s mean daily high tides and spring tides. Wind tides may be important in marshes associated with barrier island systems. Associated species vary across the north-to-south expanse of this group. Towards the north, in the Gulf of Maine, common associates include Juncus gerardii, Solidago sempervirens, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, and Limonium carolinianum; from the Chesapeake south, Juncus roemerianus is common and other associates such as Baccharis halimifolia are characteristic.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Graminoid or shrub-graminoid vegetation in polyhaline tidal marshes with Spartina patens prominent and usually dominant.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Salt marsh zonation has been long recognized and well-studied. The four groups in ~North American Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Salt Marsh Macrogroup (M079)$$ reflect these common salt marsh zones (low marsh, high marsh, brackish marsh, panne); see, for example, Adam (1990) and Mendelssohn and McKee (2000).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: These high marshes often present as an expanse of low graminoid cover, usually covering all or most of the ground surface. Shrubs may be interspersed, especially near the transition to upland or non-tidal vegetation, with graminoid cover remaining extensive below. Where present, shrub cover can range widely.
Floristics: Spartina patens is diagnostic and often dominant. Associated species can vary throughout the range and include Agalinis maritima, Borrichia frutescens, Distichlis spicata, Juncus gerardii, Juncus roemerianus, Limonium carolinianum, Salicornia spp., Bolboschoenus robustus (= Schoenoplectus robustus), Spartina bakeri, Spartina patens, Spartina spartinae, and others. Baccharis halimifolia and Iva frutescens are the primary shrub species.
In Atlantic Canada, there can be patches of Distichlis spicata, Agrostis stolonifera, or (in western Nova Scotia) Deschampsia cespitosa. Solidago sempervirens is constant across the type, but is patchy in the field. Other characteristic species include Argentina egedii, Atriplex glabriuscula var. acadiensis (= Atriplex acadiensis), Glaux maritima, Salicornia maritima, Salicornia depressa (= Salicornia virginica), Spergularia salina, Suaeda maritima, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, and others. The upper edge of the Spartina patens marsh supports higher levels of Juncus gerardii, Solidago sempervirens, Panicum virgatum, and Limonium carolinianum, which is often a distinct band and is sometimes considered its own community. Iva frutescens may also be present (S. Basquill pers. comm. 2015).
In Atlantic Canada, there can be patches of Distichlis spicata, Agrostis stolonifera, or (in western Nova Scotia) Deschampsia cespitosa. Solidago sempervirens is constant across the type, but is patchy in the field. Other characteristic species include Argentina egedii, Atriplex glabriuscula var. acadiensis (= Atriplex acadiensis), Glaux maritima, Salicornia maritima, Salicornia depressa (= Salicornia virginica), Spergularia salina, Suaeda maritima, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, and others. The upper edge of the Spartina patens marsh supports higher levels of Juncus gerardii, Solidago sempervirens, Panicum virgatum, and Limonium carolinianum, which is often a distinct band and is sometimes considered its own community. Iva frutescens may also be present (S. Basquill pers. comm. 2015).
Dynamics: High marshes develop in areas above mean high water that still receive tidal influence from lunar spring tides, wind tides, or other events. For marshes on the back of barrier islands, overwash in storms may deposit sand in the marsh.
Environmental Description: Climate: Cool-temperate to warm-temperate maritime climate. Soil/substrate/hydrology: Tides bring nutrients, making the regularly flooded marshes fertile. Salt marshes generally develop on fine-grained sediments, but can develop over sands as well. Production exceeds decomposition, leading to the buildup of marsh peat. High marsh, above mean high tide, is regularly to irregularly flooded by shallow polyhaline waters as a result of lunar, wind and storm tides.
Geographic Range: These marshes are found along the North American Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts from the Bay of Fundy south and west to Texas and adjacent Mexico.
Nations: CA,MX,US
States/Provinces: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, MXTAM?, NB, NC, NH, NJ, NS, NY, QC, RI, SC, TX, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.837345
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Estuarine Persistent Emergent Wetland (Cowardin et al. 1979)
= High Marsh (Mendelssohn and McKee 2000)
= High Marsh (Adams 1963)
= High Marsh (Mendelssohn and McKee 2000)
= High Marsh (Adams 1963)
- Adam, P. 1990. Saltmarsh Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 461 pp.
- Adams, D. A. 1963. Factors influencing vascular plant zonation in North Carolina salt marshes. Ecology 44:445-456.
- Cowardin, L. M., V. Carter, F. C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe. 1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. FWS/OBS-79/31. USDI Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services, Washington, DC. 103 pp.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, S. Gawler, M. Hall, C. Josse, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, L. Sneddon, K. Schulz, J. Teague, M. Russo, K. Snow, and P. Comer, editors. 2010-2019a. Divisions, Macrogroups and Groups for the Revised U.S. National Vegetation Classification. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. plus appendices. [in preparation]
- Higgins, E. A. T., R. D. Rappleye, and R. G. Brown. 1971. The flora and ecology of Assateague Island. University of Maryland Experiment Station Bulletin A-172. 70 pp.
- Mendelssohn, I. A., and K. L. McKee. 2000. Saltmarshes and mangroves. Pages 501-536 in: M. G. Barbour and W. D. Billings, editors. North American terrestrial vegetation. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, New York. 434 pp.
- Nixon, S. W. 1982. The ecology of New England high salt marshes: A community profile. FWS/OBS-81/55. USDI Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services, Washington, DC. 70 pp.
- Odum, W. E. 1988. Comparative ecology of tidal freshwater and salt marshes. Annual Review of Ecological Systems 19:147-176.
- Odum, W. E., and T. J. Smith. 1981. Ecology of tidal, low salinity ecosystems. Pages 36-44 in: R. C. Carey, P. S. Markovits, and J. B. Kirkwood, editors. Proceedings of the workshop on coastal ecosystems of the southeastern United States. FWS/OBS-80/59. USDI Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services, Washington, DC.
- Penfound, W. T. 1952. Southern swamps and marshes. Botanical Review 7:413-446.
- Tiner, R. W., Jr. 1977. An inventory of South Carolina''s coastal marshes. South Carolina Marine Resources Center. Technical Report 23. Columbia, SC. 33 pp.