Name:
NY Heritage: Shallow emergent marsh
Reference:
Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description:
A marsh meadow community that occurs on mineral soil or deep muck soils (rather than true peat), that are permanently saturated and seasonally flooded. This marsh is better drained than a deep emergent marsh; water depths may range from 6 in to 3.3 ft (15 cm to 1 m) during flood stages, but the water level usually drops by mid to late summer and the substrate is exposed during an average year. This is a very broadly defined type that includes several distinct variants and many intermediates. Shallow emergent marshes are very common and quite variable. They may be codominated by a mixture of species, or have a single dominant species. It is likely that an individual occurrence of shallow emergent marsh will not include all of the species listed below.
Most abundant herbaceous plants include bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis), cattails (Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia, T. x glauca), sedges (Carex spp.), marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris), manna grasses (Glyceria pallida, G. canadensis), spikerushes (Eleocharis smalliana, E. obtusa), bulrushes (Scirpus cyperinus, S. tabernaemontani, S. atrovirens), three- way sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum), sweetflag (Acorus americanus), tall meadow-rue (Thalictrum pubescens), marsh St. John's-wort (Triadenum virginicum), arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), goldenrods (Solidago rugosa, S. gigantea), eupatoriums (Eupatorium maculatum, E. perfoliatum), smartweeds (Polygonum coccineum, P. amphibium, P. hydropiperoides), marsh bedstraw (Galium palustre), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), loosestrifes (Lysimachia thyrsiflora, L. terrestris, L. ciliata). Frequently in degraded examples reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) and/or purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) may become abundant.
Sedges (Carex spp.) may be abundant in shallow emergent marshes, but are not usually dominant. Marshes must have less than 50% cover of peat and tussock-forming sedges such as tussock sedges (Carex stricta), otherwise it may be classified as a sedge meadow. Characteristic shallow emergent marsh sedges include Carex stricta, C. lacustris, C. lurida, C. hystricina, C. alata, C. vulpinoidea, C. comosa, C. rostrata var. utriculata, C. scoparia, C. gynandra, C. stipata, and C. crinita.
Other plants characteristic of shallow emergent marshes (most frequent listed first) include blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), common skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata), begger-ticks (Bidens spp.), water-horehounds (Lycopus uniflorus, L. americanus), bur-reeds (Sparganium americanum, S. eurycarpum), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), water-hemlock (Cicuta bulbifera), asters (Aster umbellatus, A. puniceus), marsh bellflower (Campanula aparinoides), water purslane (Ludwigia palustris), royal and cinnamon ferns (Osmunda regalis, O. cinnamomea), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), rushes (Juncus effusus, J. canadensis), arrowleaf (Peltandra virginica), purple-stem angelica (Angelica atropurpurea), water docks (Rumex orbiculatus, R. verticillatus), turtlehead (Chelone glabra), water-parsnip (Sium suave), and cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).
Shallow emergent marshes may have scattered shrubs including speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa), water willow (Decodon verticillatus), shrubby dogwoods (Cornus amomum, C. sericea), willows (Salix spp.), meadow sweet (Spiraea alba var. latifolia), and buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). Areas with greater than 50% shrub cover are classified as shrub swamps.
Amphibians that may be found in shallow emergent marshes include frogs such as eastern American toad (Bufo americanus), northern spring peeper (Pseudoacris crucifer), green frog (Rana clamitans melanota), and wood frog (Rana sylvatica); and salamanders such as northern redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) (Hunsinger 1999). Birds that may be found include red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris), and common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) (Levine 1998).
Shallow emergent marshes typically occur in lake basins and along streams often intergrading with deep emergent marshes, shrub swamps and sedge meadows, and they may occur together in a complex mosaic in a large wetland.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28819.NYHERITAGESHALL
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
1
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