Print Report
A3955 Batis maritima - Sarcocornia spp. - Salicornia spp. Intertidal Salt Flat Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This wide-ranging vegetation of hypersaline flats is dominated by halophytic herbs, including Distichlis spicata, Salicornia bigelovii, Salicornia depressa, Sarcocornia perennis, and stunted Spartina alterniflora. In the in the southern portion of the range these tidal flats are dominated by Batis maritima.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Turtleweed - Swampfire species - Saltwort species Intertidal Salt Flat Alliance
Colloquial Name: South Atlantic Coast Intertidal Salt Flat & Panne
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: Examples of this alliance are dominated by halophytic herbs, including Distichlis spicata, Salicornia bigelovii, Salicornia depressa, Sarcocornia perennis, Sesuvium verrucosum, Suaeda linearis, and stunted Spartina alterniflora, as well as by Batis maritima in the southern portion of the range. Other species can include Borrichia frutescens, Blutaparon vermiculare, Limonium carolinianum, Lycium carolinianum, Monanthochloe littoralis, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Spartina spartinae, Sporobolus virginicus, and Suaeda linearis. Its habitat is small to large tidally flooded hypersaline flats, very shallow depressions, or tidal flats. This alliance is especially well-developed in salt panne situations, where tidal saltwater evaporates, augmenting salinity. This wide-ranging alliance is found along the Atlantic Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Its considerable variation across this wide range is accommodated in the associations.
Diagnostic Characteristics: This is vegetation of small to large tidally flooded hypersaline flats or very shallow tidal depressions. Diagnostic species are Salicornia bigelovii, Salicornia depressa, Sarcocornia perennis, and/or Batis maritima.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: There is considerable floristic variation in this wide-ranging alliance, which is accommodated in the associations.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Examples of this alliance are dominated by halophytic herbs, many of which are stunted and have morphological or physiological adaptations to a high-salt coastal environment, as well as tolerance for heat and drought.
Floristics: Stands are dominated by halophytic herbs, including Distichlis spicata, Salicornia bigelovii, Salicornia depressa (= Salicornia virginica), Sarcocornia perennis, and stunted Spartina alterniflora, as well as Batis maritima. Other species can include Borrichia frutescens, Blutaparon vermiculare, Limonium carolinianum, Lycium carolinianum, Monanthochloe littoralis, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Spartina spartinae, Sporobolus virginicus, and Suaeda linearis. In the southern part of the range, there are small to large tidal flats dominated by Batis maritima, typically with saltwater-tidal irregularly flooded hydrology. Other species in this situation can include Borrichia frutescens, Blutaparon vermiculare, Lycium carolinianum, Monanthochloe littoralis, Sarcocornia perennis, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Spartina spartinae, Sporobolus virginicus, and Suaeda linearis. Algal mats of blue-green and sometimes green algae are characteristically present, visible even in densely vegetated pannes. In some cases they may contribute significantly more biomass than do vascular species. The following algae were noted to occur in association with Spartina alterniflora in the littoral zone of a Massachusetts salt marsh: Hydrocoleum lyngbyaceum, Lyngbya spp., Microcoleus chthonoplastes, Nodularia harveyana, Oscillatoria amphibia, Oscillatoria subuliformis, and Symploca spp. (Webber 1967).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Vegetation of this alliance tends to develop in shallow depressions within high salt marshes where drainage is poor. The depressions are flooded by high tides, but as the water evaporates during low tide, the salinity concentration increases forming "salt pannes." Formation of the pannes may result from ice-scouring, rafting flotsam, peat compaction, shifting barrier island environments, or by mosquito ditch levees which create small impoundments. These communities are regularly to irregularly flooded by nearby brackish water. Bare peat and/or mucky soils are prevalent (up to 85% bare soils), and standing water covers these communities at high tide.
Geographic Range: This wide-ranging alliance is found along the Atlantic Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
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.2.900006
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: A.111 (one of one); A.1704 (two of three, the eastern U.S. members); A.1705 (one of one)
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Batis-Salicornia-Sesuvium (Olmsted et al. 1981)
>< Glasswort-Saltwort Series (Diamond 1993)
>< Glasswort-Saltwort Series (Diamond 1993)
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