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A.1471 | EcoArt 2002
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Name: A.1471 Reference: EcoArt 2002 Description: This alliance includes various tidal marshes dominated by ~Spartina alterniflora$. The hydrology is usually regularly tidally flooded. In the northern part of its range, southern Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, this alliance is generally limited to the zone between mean sea level and the mean high water level. The habitat occurs in protected inlets behind barrier beaches or in drowned river valleys. Peat depth ranges from a few feet, if the community formed over a mud flat, to 80 feet in drowned river valleys. ~Spartina alterniflora$ is limited to the low marsh zone by moderate salinity; it can withstand longer submergence than other salt marsh grasses, but still requires periodic exposure of the substrate. It also requires moderately high levels of iron (7-15 ppm). This community is commonly known as the 'low salt marsh,' occurring as a tall grassland strongly dominated by ~Spartina alterniflora$. There is little variation in vascular plant species composition across the range. It occurs in nearly pure stands, with occasional low growing species such as ~Spergularia salina (= Spergularia marina), Salicornia$ spp., ~Suaeda maritima$, and seaweeds such as ~Ulva lactuca$ and other algae such as ~Fucus vesiculosus$ and ~Ascophyllum nodosum$, which grow at the bases of the ~Spartina$ plants. Herbs of ~Salicornia virginica$ and ~Salicornia bigelovii$ can be quite common mixed in with the ~Spartina$, often becoming more apparent later in the growing season. ~Limonium carolinianum$ is another characteristic herb, but only as scattered individuals. More detailed information is needed on the variability of the alliance in the southern parts of its range.  Accession Code: VB.CC.1244.A1471 Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 17-Mar-2005
	status: accepted Community's Parent: V.A.5.N.n This Community's Level: Alliance This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Scientific: SPARTINA ALTERNIFLORA TIDAL HERBACEOUS ALLIANCE   Code: A.1471   Common: Saltmarsh Cordgrass Tidal Herbaceous Alliance (convergence) and Synonyms: (undetermined) Spartina alterniflora Tidal Herbaceous Alliance