Salt Flats
Salt Flats represent communities of regularly to irregularly tidal, sparsely to sometimes densely vegetated depressions and flats that are commonly known as "salt pannes.". Tidal salt flats occur on the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina. Typically occurring as small patches within a matrix of mesohaline or polyhaline marsh, these habitats accumulate salt through evaporation of diurnal flooding inputs. Hyperhaline salt flats often contain large areas of barren, compacted peat and support only a scattering of saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and short saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), along with the most salt-tolerant perennial and annual, succulent halophytes: glassworts (Salicornia ambigua , Salicornia virginica, and Salicornia bigelovii), salt-marsh sand spurry (Spergularia salina), tall sea-blite (Suaeda linearis), and sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum). Occasional occurrences contain dense stands of one or more glassworts. Stunted saltmarsh cordgrass usually forms a narrow ecotone between the flat and surrounding marsh. Several algae are also characteristic associates. Even large salt flats can be quite ephemeral and may appear or disappear rapidly as marshes and dunes migrate. In addition, rising sea level has led to the successional replacement of salt flats by dense low salt marshes. In Virginia, salt flat communities are best represented on the Eastern Shore (Accomack and Northampton Counties), where they occur frequently within the very large, Atlantic shore salt marshes.
References: Clovis (1968), Coulling (2002), Levy (1983), The Nature Conservancy (1997).
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© DCR-DNH, Gary P. Fleming.Although salt flats are widespread and locally extensive on the Eastern Shore, only 13 stands have been quantitatively sampled (Fig. 1). Additional data collection is needed to document the range of compositional variation in the group. Click on any highlighted CEGL code below to view the global USNVC description provided by NatureServe Explorer.
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