Name:
Zizania aquatica - Spartina patens - Pontederia cordata Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
Vegetation of this fresh and oligohaline marsh group constitutes the primary vegetation between oceanward salt and brackish marshes and inland, non-tidally influenced vegetation from Newfoundland south to Florida and west to Texas along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These freshwater marshes are characterized by fresh to oligohaline waters which are driven by lunar and wind tides. The environment includes areas well inside the mouths of tidal creeks and rivers, where there is adequate riverflow and discharge to maintain fresh to oligohaline conditions, while still within tidal range. This group typically occurs as complexes of several associations characterized by a mixture of annual and perennial grasses, forbs, sedges, rushes, other grass-like plants, floating or submerged aquatics, shrubs, and scattered tree saplings. Dominance patterns change seasonally, yearly, and geographically. In addition to regional variability, freshwater tidal marshes may also exhibit floristic zonation based on age, water depth, tidal regime, and other factors, into a low and high marsh. This vegetation supports broad-leaved emergent plants such as <i>Nuphar advena, Nuphar orbiculata, Nuphar sagittifolia, Peltandra virginica, Pontederia cordata</i>, and <i>Sagittaria</i> spp.; annual and perennial grasses such as <i>Calamagrostis canadensis, Leersia oryzoides, Panicum hemitomon, Spartina cynosuroides, Spartina patens, Zizania aquatica, Zizaniopsis miliacea</i>; sedges and rushes such as <i>Carex</i> spp., <i>Cladium mariscus ssp. jamaicense, Eleocharis</i> spp., <i>Fuirena</i> spp., <i>Schoenoplectus pungens, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani</i>; other grass-like plants and annual and perennial forbs such as <i>Acorus calamus, Amaranthus cannabinus, Ambrosia trifida, Bidens</i> spp., <i>Impatiens capensis, Hibiscus moscheutos, Kosteletzkya virginica, Polygonum</i> spp., <i>Sium suave, Typha</i> spp.; and scattered shrubs such as <i>Cephalanthus occidentalis</i> and <i>Morella cerifera</i>. While some association dominants are tolerant of brackish water, they are associated with plants restricted to oligohaline or freshwater. Irregular flooding and fire are both important forces in this group, and rising sea level is a particularly important driver of long-term trends.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:39881-{2116E377-724D-4197-8491-3D1C2BFA7F99}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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