Classification of Vegetation Communities of Maryland: First Iteration

V. HERBACEOUS VEGETATION
V.C.2.N.b. Permanently flooded-tidal temperate or subpolar hydromorphic rooted vegetation
V.C.2.N.b.3. STUCKENIA PECTINATA - ZANNICHELLIA PALUSTRIS PERMANENTLY FLOODED - TIDAL HERBACEOUS ALLIANCE
Sago Pondweed - Horned Pondweed Permanently Flooded - Tidal Herbaceous Alliance

Concept: This alliance includes shallow subtidal fresh/brackish water and sediments exposed at extreme low tide. It supports a predominance of vascular aquatics such as Stuckenia pectinata (= Potamogeton pectinatus), Potamogeton perfoliatus, Vallisneria americana, Elodea nuttallii, and Zannichellia palustris, and occasionally Ruppia maritima as salinity begins to increase. Communities in this alliance occur in maritime coastal areas from Virginia north to Connecticut and in Louisiana and possibly Texas.

Range: This alliance is found in maritime coastal areas of Louisiana, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and possibly Texas. It is present in tidal waters of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana (L. Smith pers. comm.).

States/Provinces: CT DE LA MA MD NJ NY TX? VA

TNC Ecoregions: 31:C, 42:P, 58:C, 62:C

USFS Ecoregions: 212Db:CCP, 221Aa:CCP, 221Ab:CCC, 221Ac:CCC, 221Ad:CCC, 221Ae:CCP, 221Ak:CCC, 221Ba:CCP, 231Fb:PPP, 232Aa:CCC, 232Ab:CCP, 232Ac:CCC, 232Br:CCP, 232Bx:CCP, 232Bz:CCP, 232Ch:CCP, 232Ec:CCC, 255Dc:PPP

Federal Lands: USFWS (Anahuac?, Aransas?, Big Boggy?, Brazoria?, McFaddin?, San Bernard?)

Synonymy: Estuarine Subtidal: Fresh / Brackish Flats (Swain and Kearsley 2001)

References: Smith pers. comm., Sneddon et al. 1996, Swain and Kearsley 2001

Authors: S.L. NEID, JT, East Identifier: A.1768

Concept: This type includes vegetation of shallow subtidal fresh to slightly brackish water and mud or sand sediments exposed at extreme low tide occurring along the mid- and north Atlantic coast. Common and dominant species include Stuckenia pectinata (= Potamogeton pectinatus), Zannichellia palustris, Vallisneria americana, Najas guadalupensis, Elodea nuttallii, and Ceratophyllum demersum. Ruppia maritima may occur sporadically, but it is more prevalent in brackish and saline habitats. Invasive exotics often occur in this habitat, including Myriophyllum spicatum and Trapa natans. This association grades almost imperceptibly into brackish/saline aquatic bed vegetation.

Comments: The vegetation composition of this association intergrades with that of saline/brackish subtidal aquatic beds. This association can be distinguished from Ruppia maritima Acadian/Virginian Zone Temperate Herbaceous Vegetation (CEGL006167) in that Stuckenia pectinata and Zannichellia palustris rather than Ruppia maritima are strongly dominant. Southern analogs of fresh to oligohaline subtidal aquatic bed vegetation include Ceratophyllum demersum - Utricularia macrorhiza - Nymphaea odorata Herbaceous Vegetation (CEGL004661), which occurs in wind-tidal situations in the Chesapeake Bay area, and Vallisneria americana Estuarine Bayou Herbaceous Vegetation (CEGL004634) in the Gulf Coast. The vegetation composition of this association is very similar to, if not indistinguishable from, that of non-tidal submerged aquatic beds.

Range: This association occurs along the mid- and north Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Virginia.

States/Provinces: CT:S?, DE:S1, MA:S2, MD:S?, NJ:S2S3, NY:S3S4,S3, VA:S?

TNC Ecoregions: 58:C, 62:C

USFS Ecoregions: 212Db:CCP, 221Aa:CCP, 221Ab:CCC, 221Ac:CCC, 221Ad:CCC, 221Ae:CCP, 221Ak:CCC, 221Ba:CCP, 232Aa:CCC, 232Ab:CCP, 232Ac:CCC, 232Br:CCP, 232Bx:CCP, 232Bz:CCP, 232Ch:CCP

Synonymy: Polyhaline subtidal aquatic bed (Breden 1989). in part, Potamogeton Community (Moore et al. 2000), Southern New England & Gulf of Maine Fresh /Brackish Subtidal Estuarine Communities (Rawinski 1984)

References: Berdine 1998, Bowman 2000, Breden 1989, Breden et al. 2001, Edinger et al. 2002, Enser 1999, Fleming 2001, Fleming et al. 2001, Metzler and Barrett 2001, Moore et al. 2000, Rawinski 1984, Reschke 1990, Swain and Kearsley 2001

Authors: S.L. Neid, ECS Confidence: 2 Identifier: CEGL006027

- Maryland Vegetation Classification Subset Report V.C. Hydromorphic rooted vegetation

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