Name:
Cakile edentula Sparsely Vegetated Alliance
Reference:
Eastern Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
Annual-dominated sand flats on island end flats and upper ocean beaches, within the reach of storm tides and extreme lunar tides. This alliance has less perennial species than the related Cakile constricta Sparsely Vegetated Alliance (A.1860), since the Atlantic Coast shoreline is a higher-energy system, and the alliance is more dynamic and more frequently disturbed. Vegetative cover is variable, depending on the amount of exposure to wave and wind action, but on average is sparse; no species can be considered dominant. Annual or biennial species more or less restricted to beach habitats are characteristic of this alliance, including Cakile edentula ssp. edentula, as well as Salsola kali ssp. kali (= Salsola caroliniana), Chamaesyce polygonifolia, Honckenya peploides, Cenchrus tribuloides, Amaranthus retroflexus, Chenopodium album, Erechtites hieraciifolia, and Atriplex cristata (= Atriplex arenaria). Associated species include Ammophila breviligulata, Chamaesyce polygonifolia, Salsola kali ssp. kali, and Triplasis purpurea. At Assateague Island National Seashore, this alliance is sparsely vegetated with Cakile edentula ssp. edentula, covering approximately 1% of the area. Other associated species in this alliance are just as sparse and generally adapted to a low growth form, given the exposed windy conditions of their environment. The South Atlantic Coast phase of this alliance occupies the upper portion of ocean beaches in the southern part (Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Romain, South Carolina) of the microtidal region (barrier islands with coastal geomorphology dominated by hurricane overwash rather than tidal energy). Other characteristic species include mostly annual herbs, such as Chamaesyce polygonifolia, Chamaesyce bombensis, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Salsola kali ssp. kali, and the rare Amaranthus pumilus. In addition to the two associations in the Southeast, there is also an association in the Great Lakes; in this association the dominant plant is Cakile edentula ssp. edentula var. lacustris.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.18669.CAKILEEDENTULAS
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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