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Spartina alterniflora Low Salt Marsh Alliance | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Spartina alterniflora Low Salt Marsh Alliance Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019 Description: This alliance includes low, regularly flooded tidal marshes of the eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast dominated by <i>Spartina alterniflora</i>. This alliance is commonly known as "low salt marsh," occurring as a tall grassland strongly dominated by <i>Spartina alterniflora</i>. 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 <i>Spergularia salina, Salicornia</i> spp., <i>Suaeda maritima</i>, and seaweeds such as <i>Ulva lactuca</i> and other algae such as <i>Fucus vesiculosus</i> and <i>Ascophyllum nodosum</i>, which grow at the bases of the <i>Spartina</i> plants. Herbs of <i>Salicornia depressa</i> and <i>Salicornia bigelovii</i> can be quite common mixed in with the <i>Spartina</i>, often becoming more apparent later in the growing season. <i>Limonium carolinianum</i> is another characteristic herb, but only as scattered individuals. Other associates occurring in the Gulf Coast include <i>Schoenoplectus americanus, Spartina patens, Batis maritima</i>, and <i>Bolboschoenus robustus</i>. <i>Avicennia germinans</i> also occurs in this alliance on the Gulf Coast. 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, drowned river valleys, and along the margin of large bays. Peat depth ranges from a few feet, if the community formed over a mudflat, to 24 m (80 feet) in drowned river valleys. <i>Spartina alterniflora</i> 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).  Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38237-{C8E6EC33-EBB9-4E12-8371-B23BCDA61885} Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 18-Dec-2014 to: ongoing
	status: accepted Community's Parent: Spartina alterniflora Low Salt Marsh Group This Community's Level: Alliance This Community's Children: Show/Hide   Avicennia germinans / Spartina alterniflora Saline Shrubland   Spartina alterniflora / (Ascophyllum nodosum) Acadian/Virginian Zone Salt Marsh   Spartina alterniflora Carolinian Zone Salt Marsh   Spartina alterniflora - Distichlis spicata Tidal Salt Marsh   Spartina alterniflora - Juncus roemerianus - Distichlis spicata Louisianian Zone Tidal Salt Marsh		Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899140 NatureServe Explorer   Code: A1471   Translated: Smooth Cordgrass Low Salt Marsh Alliance   Common: Smooth Cordgrass Low Salt Marsh   Scientific: Spartina alterniflora Low Salt Marsh Alliance (convergence) and Synonyms: (similar) A.1471 (similar) Spartina alterniflora Tidal Herbaceous Alliance