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CEGL007241 Morella cerifera / Typha domingensis - Sagittaria lancifolia - Eleocharis spp. Tidal Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Wax-myrtle / Southern Cattail - Bull-tongue Arrowhead - Spikerush species Tidal Marsh
Colloquial Name: Wax-myrtle / Southern Cattail - Bull-tongue Arrowhead Shrub-Herb Marsh
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This shrub-herb marsh vegetation is located adjacent to estuarine and riverine tidal waters. It is characterized by moderate to high cover of Morella cerifera in combination with a variety of fresh to oligohaline marsh species. Scattered stunted trees of Acer rubrum and Triadica sebifera are frequently encountered. Marsh species frequently encountered with moderate cover include Eleocharis spp., Sagittaria lancifolia, Polygonum hydropiperoides, and Thelypteris palustris. The marsh is often mixed with no clear dominant. Other frequently encountered herbaceous species include Andropogon glomeratus, Cyperus spp., Sacciolepis striata, and Kosteletzkya virginica. A variety of other herbaceous species may be found infrequently and at low cover in this community. Common non-native species include Triadica sebifera, Panicum repens, Alternanthera philoxeroides, and Salvinia minima.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This community was identified during a cluster analysis of 159 plots from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana. It is described from 13 plots that clustered together (Homoteneity (0.642); Bray-Curtis Similarity (0.447)) within a larger cluster that includes ~Taxodium distichum / Morella cerifera / Thelypteris palustris Tidal Woodland (CEGL007065)$$. Two of these 13 plots (BAT_21, BAT_22) have been reassigned to a new type, ~Ilex cassine - Morella cerifera / Woodwardia areolata - Sphagnum sp. Flotant Shrub Swamp (CEGL007093)$$. The species in this community are shared with and sometimes are codominant in other communities at Jean Lafitte, but the combination of species and environmental setting seems to support description of this community as a separate type. This community represents a diverse set of occurrences with seasonal and aspect dominance that differs between sites. For classification purposes, more weight is given to perennial woody shrub Morella cerifera even though total herbaceous cover is often higher than woody cover, and some plots clustered with marsh vegetation. Scattered stunted Taxodium distichum is only occasionally found in this community, and when encountered, it is present at very low cover, whereas it is frequently found in moderate cover (10-25%) in ~Taxodium distichum / Morella cerifera / Thelypteris palustris Tidal Woodland (CEGL007065)$$. These two communities are also distinguished by the abundance and dominance of Morella cerifera (closer to 50% cover in CEGL007241 and 10-25% in CEGL007065).
Two marsh communities dominated by Morella cerifera have been identified for coastal Louisiana. This community, ~Morella cerifera / Typha domingensis - Sagittaria lancifolia - Eleocharis spp. Tidal Marsh (CEGL007241)$$, is described to accommodate vegetation that is more floristically diverse than ~Morella cerifera - Panicum hemitomon Floating Marsh (CEGL007834)$$, which is described as strongly dominated by Morella cerifera with Panicum hemitomon as the only other species often present. The two communities separated in a cluster analysis of 159 plots from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana. However, these communities appear to co-occur and intermingle in the marsh at Jean Lafitte and more information is needed to better understand whether these communities should be merged.
Nolfo-Clements (2006) identified a "wax-myrtle thicket" floating marsh community at Jean Lafitte dominated by Morella cerifera and Sphagnum spp. Associated species include Thelypteris palustris, Woodwardia areolata, Rhynchospora microcephala, Decodon verticillatus, Xyris laxifolia var. iridifolia (in clumps), Eupatorium perfoliatum, Ageratina altissima, Pluchea foetida, Solidago fistulosa, Acer rubrum, Triadica sebifera, Panicum hemitomon, and Sagittaria lancifolia. CEGL007241 has variable cover of Sphagnum spp., therefore a more broadly defined type than Nolfo-Clements'' "wax-myrtle thicket" community.
Two marsh communities dominated by Morella cerifera have been identified for coastal Louisiana. This community, ~Morella cerifera / Typha domingensis - Sagittaria lancifolia - Eleocharis spp. Tidal Marsh (CEGL007241)$$, is described to accommodate vegetation that is more floristically diverse than ~Morella cerifera - Panicum hemitomon Floating Marsh (CEGL007834)$$, which is described as strongly dominated by Morella cerifera with Panicum hemitomon as the only other species often present. The two communities separated in a cluster analysis of 159 plots from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana. However, these communities appear to co-occur and intermingle in the marsh at Jean Lafitte and more information is needed to better understand whether these communities should be merged.
Nolfo-Clements (2006) identified a "wax-myrtle thicket" floating marsh community at Jean Lafitte dominated by Morella cerifera and Sphagnum spp. Associated species include Thelypteris palustris, Woodwardia areolata, Rhynchospora microcephala, Decodon verticillatus, Xyris laxifolia var. iridifolia (in clumps), Eupatorium perfoliatum, Ageratina altissima, Pluchea foetida, Solidago fistulosa, Acer rubrum, Triadica sebifera, Panicum hemitomon, and Sagittaria lancifolia. CEGL007241 has variable cover of Sphagnum spp., therefore a more broadly defined type than Nolfo-Clements'' "wax-myrtle thicket" community.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This shrub-herb marsh vegetation is characterized by moderate to high cover of Morella cerifera in combination with a variety of fresh to oligohaline marsh species. Scattered stunted trees of Acer rubrum and Triadica sebifera are frequently encountered. Marsh species frequently encountered with moderate cover include Eleocharis spp., Sagittaria lancifolia, Polygonum hydropiperoides, and Thelypteris palustris. The marsh is often mixed with no clear dominant. Other frequently encountered herbaceous species include Andropogon glomeratus, Cyperus spp., Sacciolepis striata, and Kosteletzkya virginica. Other species less frequently encountered that may have moderate cover include Typha domingensis, Woodwardia areolata, Hydrocotyle spp., Sacciolepis striata, Decodon verticillatus, Spartina patens, Panicum hemitomon, and Sphagnum spp. A variety of other herbaceous species may be found infrequently and at low cover in this community. Common non-native species include Triadica sebifera, Panicum repens, Alternanthera philoxeroides, and Salvinia minima.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This shrub-herb marsh vegetation is located adjacent to estuarine and riverine tidal waters, but the occurrences where it is documented are mostly mapped as palustrine semipermanently flooded and not identified as tidal (NPS 2005). Though tidal influence has not been documented, it might be present, especially from wind tides. In some occurrences this shrub-herb marsh community is separated from open water by expansive herb marshes. All locations are impacted by levees and ditches that are presumably disrupting the flow of water. Some examples of this community may occur as a floating mat of vegetation (flotant). Shirley and Battaglia (2006) documented a concomitant increase in the amount of scrub-shrub habitat at Barataria and decrease in herbaceous marsh from 1955-1998. The increase in shrub-dominated flotant marshes in the Barataria could be attributed in part to increase in Triadica sebifera and also in part to lack of fire (Battaglia et al. 2007, 2009). Flotant marshes are dynamic systems and may switch from herbaceous dominance to shrub dominance in a cyclic pattern (Battaglia et al. 2007). Since floating marshes do not experience the stress of high floodwaters, shrubs may more easily become established in flotant marshes than in marshes rooted in the underlying substrate and subjected to floods (Battaglia et al. 2007). However, as shrubs become established and increase in biomass, the marsh mat becomes heavier and sinks, increasing flooding levels and killing off the woody shrubs (Shirley and Battaglia 2008).
Geographic Range: This community is described from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Other examples are expected to occur along the coast of Louisiana.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: LA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.907668
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
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.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
| Division | 2.C.4.Ne Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D322 | 2.C.4.Ne |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Ne.1 Annual Wild Rice - Saltmeadow Cordgrass - Pickerelweed Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Macrogroup | M066 | 2.C.4.Ne.1 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Ne.1.b <i>Zizaniopsis milacea - Spartina patens - Panicum hemotimon</i> Freshwater Tidal Marsh Group | G913 | 2.C.4.Ne.1.b |
| Alliance | A4482 <i>Morella cerifera - Rosa palustris</i> South Tidal Freshwater Shrubland Alliance | A4482 | 2.C.4.Ne.1.b |
| Association | CEGL007241 Wax-myrtle / Southern Cattail - Bull-tongue Arrowhead - Spikerush species Tidal Marsh | CEGL007241 | 2.C.4.Ne.1.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: >< Myrica shrub marshes (Sasser et al. 1996)
>< Wax-myrtle Thicket Community (Nolfo-Clements 2006)
>< Wax-myrtle Thicket Community (Nolfo-Clements 2006)
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