SALT-MARSH COMMUNITIES IN THE BRITISH NATIONAL VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

This article gives an overview of the saltmarsh communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.

Contents

Introduction

Other communities occurring on salt-marshes

List of saltmarsh communities

External link

Introduction

The saltmarsh communities of the NVC were described in Volume 5 of ''British Plant Communities'', first published in 2000, along with the other maritime communities (those of shingle strand-line and sand-dunes and maritime cliffs) and vegetation of open habitats.
In total, 28 saltmarsh communities have been identified.
The saltmarsh communities consist of four separate subgroups:

★ three eel-grass and tassel-weed communities of tidal flats, pools and ditches (SM1, SM2 and SM3)

★ thirteen communities of the lower salt-marsh (SM4, SM5, SM6, SM7, SM8, SM9, SM10, SM11, SM12, SM13, SM14, SM15 and SM26)

★ nine communities of the middle salt-marsh (SM16, SM17, SM18, SM19, SM20, SM21, SM22, SM23 and SM27)

★ three communities of the upper salt-marsh (SM24, SM25 and SM28)

Other communities occurring on salt-marshes

There are a number of other communities which occur on salt-marshes, but are not classified as salt-marsh communities within the NVC. Those listed in ''British Plant Communities'' are as follows:

List of saltmarsh communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:

★ SM1 ''Zostera'' communities Zosterion Christiansen 1934

★ SM2 ''Ruppia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Ruppietum maritimae'' Hocquette 1927

★ SM3 ''Eleocharis parvula'' salt-marsh community ''Eleocharitetum parvulae'' (Preuss 1911/12) Gillner 1960

★ SM4 ''Spartina maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum maritimae'' (Emb. & Regn. 1926) Corillion 1953

★ SM5 ''Spartina alterniflora'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum alterniflorae'' Corillion 1953

★ SM6 ''Spartina anglica'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum townsendii'' (Tansley 1939) Corillion 1953

★ SM7 ''Arthrocnemum perenne'' stands

★ SM8 Annual ''Salicornia'' salt-marsh community ''Salicornietum europaeae'' Warming 1906

★ SM9 ''Suaeda maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Suaedetum maritimae'' (Conrad 1935) Pignatti 1953

★ SM10 Transitional low-marsh vegetation with ''Puccinellia maritima'', annual ''Salicornia'' species and ''Suaeda maritima''

★ SM11 ''Aster tripolium'' var. ''discoideus'' salt-marsh community ''Asteretum tripolii'' Tansley 1939

★ SM12 Rayed ''Aster tripolium'' on salt-marshes

★ SM13 ''Puccinellia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Puccinellietum maritimae'' (Warming 1906) Christiansen 1927

★ SM14 ''Halimione portaculoides'' salt-marsh community ''Halimionetum portulacoidis'' (Kuhnholtz-Lordat 1927) Des Abbayes & Corillion 1949

★ SM15 ''Juncus maritimus - Triglochin maritima'' salt-marsh community

★ SM16 ''Festuca rubra'' salt-marsh community ''Juncetum gerardi'' Warming 1906

★ SM17 ''Artemisia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Artemisietum maritimae'' Hocquette 1927

★ SM18 ''Juncus maritimus'' salt-marsh community

★ SM19 ''Blysmus rufus'' salt-marsh community ''Blysmetum rufi'' (G.E. & G. Du Rietz 1925) Gillner 1960

★ SM20 ''Eleocharis uniglumis'' salt-marsh community ''Eleocharitetum uniglumis'' Nordhagen 1923

★ SM21 ''Suaeda vera - Limonium binervosum'' salt-marsh community

★ SM22 ''Halimione portulacoides - Frankenia laevis'' salt-marsh community ''Limonio vulgaris - Frankenietum laevis'' Géhu & Géhu-Franck 1975

★ SM23 ''Spergularia marina - Puccinellia distans'' salt-marsh community ''Puccinellietum distantis'' Feekes (1934) 1945

★ SM24 ''Elymus pycnanthus'' salt-marsh community ''Atriplici-Elymetum pycnanthi'' Beeftink & Westhoff 1962

★ SM25 ''Suaeda vera'' drift-line community ''Elymo pycnanthi - Suaedetum verae'' (Arènes 1933) Géhu 1975

★ SM26 ''Inula crithmoides'' on salt-marshes

★ SM27 Ephermeral salt-marsh vegetation with ''Sagina maritima'' Saginion maritimae Westhoff, van Leeuwen & Adriani 1962

★ SM28 ''Elymus repens'' salt-marsh community ''Elymetum repentis maritimum'' Nordhagen 1940

External link

Salt Marsh Communities, excerpted from book 5