Salt-marsh communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

[edit] 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)

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] 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:

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] 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

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

v • d • e

The British National Vegetation Classification

Woodlands and scrub • Mires • Heaths • Mesotrophic grasslands • Calcicolous grasslands • Calcifugous grasslands and montane communities • Aquatic communities • Swamps and tall-herb fens • Saltmarshes • Shingle, strandline and sand-dunes • Maritime cliff communities • Vegetation of open habitats
Full list of communities • Terminology • British Plant Communities • List of constant species • List of rare species