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Department of Conservation and Recreation
Table of ContentsTidal Mesohaline and Polyhaline Aquatic Beds
This group contains hydromorphic herbaceous vegetation of shallow estuarine bays, tidal creeks, and salt marsh pools. These communities occur along the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina. In Virginia, habitats have salt concentrations > 5 ppt and are permanently flooded by tidal waters or occasionally exposed at extreme low tides. Species richness is very low, with one to a few submerged vascular aquatics present. These consist primarily of wigeon-grass (Ruppia maritima), eel-grass (Zostera marina var. stenophylla), horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris), and sago pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata, = Potamogeton pectinatus). Aquatic algae are frequent to abundant associates. Although these communities are scattered throughout the eastern Virginia maritime zone, at present there are few data on their composition, distribution, and ecological dynamics in this region.
References: Moore et al . (2000), Orth and Moore (1988).
