Print Report
CEGL007081 Bacopa monnieri - Eleocharis spp. Thin Floating Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Herb-of-Grace - Spikerush species Thin Floating Marsh
Colloquial Name: Herb-of-Grace Thin Floating Marsh
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This is a thin floating mat of aquatic and wetland plants described from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana. It is a type of mixed, native marsh that forms in areas that have been disturbed by extensive herbivory, air boat activity, or other intense disturbance. It is often expressed as a matrix of taller plants such as Kosteletzkya virginica and Ludwigia leptocarpa intermingled with shorter ones such as Bidens laevis, Polygonum hydropiperoides, and Thelypteris palustris. Interspersed within this taller matrix are patches of thinner floating mats characterized by Bacopa monnieri, Eleocharis olivacea, and Hydrocotyle spp. The Eleocharis forms a low, dense continuous mat, and the other marsh plants are lying on it or rising above it. Other species that may be present include Andropogon glomeratus, Cyperus spp., Lythrum lineare, Morella cerifera, Sacciolepis striata, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Symphyotrichum subulatum, Typha domingensis, Vigna luteola and the non-native Panicum repens. This vegetation has been observed to form extensive areas within other more uniform marsh types (e.g., dominated by Panicum hemitomon, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Typha domingensis, etc.). These patches are thought to result from herbivory by nutria, muskrats, deer, etc., as well as subsidence. It is found within the larger marsh matrix and on the margins of lakes and large natural bayous, rather than in heavily-traveled waterways.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Nolfo-Clements (2006) identified a thin-mat community at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve dominated or codominated by Eleocharis olivacea, Eleocharis radicans, and Eleocharis vivipara. Associated species included Hydrocotyle spp., Bacopa monnieri, Ludwigia repens, and occasionally Micranthemum umbrosum, Sagittaria latifolia, Pontederia cordata, Cyperus spp., Habenaria repens, Fuirena pumila, Juncus filipendulus, Ludwigia grandiflora, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Phyla lanceolata, Polygonum punctatum, and Schoenoplectus americanus. Occasional floating aquatic species include Salvinia minima, Lemna minor, Spirodela polyrrhiza, and Wolffiella gladiata. Her community appears to be compatible with this association (CEGL007081). More information is needed to better separate the fresh to oligohaline marshes along the coast of Louisiana into associations.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This vegetation is often expressed as a matrix of taller plants such as Kosteletzkya virginica and Ludwigia leptocarpa intermingled with shorter ones such as Bidens laevis, Polygonum hydropiperoides (= Persicaria hydropiperoides), and Thelypteris palustris. Interspersed within this taller matrix are patches of thinner floating mats characterized by Bacopa monnieri, Eleocharis olivacea, and Hydrocotyle spp. The Eleocharis forms a low, dense continuous mat, and the other marsh plants are lying on it or rising above it. Other species that may be present include Andropogon glomeratus, Cyperus spp., Lythrum lineare, Morella cerifera, Sacciolepis striata, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Symphyotrichum subulatum, Typha domingensis, Vigna luteola and the non-native Panicum repens.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This freshwater herbaceous marsh vegetation is located adjacent to estuarine and riverine tidal waters (NPS 2005), and has been observed to form in disturbed areas impacted by intense air boat activity or herbivory by nutria, muskrats, deer, etc., as well as in subsiding marshes on the margins of lakes and large natural bayous, rather than in heavily-traveled waterways. It may form extensive patches within other more uniform marsh types (e.g., dominated by Panicum hemitomon, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Typha domingensis, etc.).
Geographic Range: Described from Jean Lafitte National Park, Louisiana, and probably found across the still fresh to oligohaline waters of the outer Gulf Coastal Plain.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: LA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.948554
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 | A4220 Gulf Coastal Plain Floating Marsh Alliance | A4220 | 2.C.4.Ne.1.b |
Association | CEGL007081 Herb-of-Grace - Spikerush species Thin Floating Marsh | CEGL007081 | 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: No Data Available
- NPS [National Park Service]. 2005. Jean Lafitte NHP 2005 Habitat Data Map (1:12,000) created by USGS-NWRC. Unpublished data shared by NPS.
- Nolfo-Clements, L. E. 2006. Vegetative survey of wetland habitats at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in southeastern Louisiana. Southeastern Naturalist 5(3):499-514.
- Sasser, C. E., J. G. Gosselink, E. M. Swenson, M. Swarzenski, and N. C. Leibowitz. 1996. Vegetation, substrate and hydrology in floating marshes in the Mississippi River delta plain wetlands, USA. Vegetatio 122:129-142.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.