California's coastal salt marsh is a
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...
plant community
A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant ...
that occurs sporadically along the Pacific Coast from
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between S ...
to
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
. This
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
type is found in bays, harbors, inlets, and other protected areas subject to
tidal flooding.
Plant habitat
Plant species in this community are
halophytes
A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. T ...
adapted to the saline conditions and low oxygen content typically found in the water-saturated soils. As a result of the demanding conditions, species diversity is relatively low.
Typical plant species in this community include:
[(Ornduff 2003)]
*Salt grass (''
Distichlis spicata
''Distichlis spicata'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents a ...
'')
*Franconia (''
Frankenia salina'')
*Pickleweed and glasswort (''
Salicornia
''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, Central As ...
'' spp.)
*
Cordgrass (''Spartina foliosa'')
*Seep weed (''
Suaeda californica
''Suaeda californica'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name California seablite. It is now endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known from a few occurrences in the marshes ar ...
'')
Plants occur in bands that are determined by the amount of submergence a species can tolerate. Most tolerant of submergence is cordgrass which has a hollow stem that allows oxygen to reach its roots . Further inland, pickleweeds and glassworts are predominant where their roots are flooded only during the highest tides. The salt-marsh bird’s-beak (''
Cordylanthus maritimus'') is an endangered plant species that occurs in this habitat.
Animal habitat
Few terrestrial animals inhabit the coastal salt marsh. One endangered mammal is the
salt marsh harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys raviventris'') which occurs in the San Francisco Bay region. Likewise, only five species of birds are resident in this habitat and four are considered rare or endangered.
See also
*
Plant communities of California
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...
*
Ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
*
Natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses t ...
References
{{Reflist
*Ornduff, Robert. (2003) ''Introduction to California Plant Life''. Revised by Phyllis M. Faber and Todd Keeler-Wolf. University of California Press.
*Schoenherr, Allan A. (1992) ''
A Natural History of California
Allan A. Schoenherr (February 6, 1937 – May 31, 2021) was a Californian author, ecologist, and naturalist. He is the author of the widely used reference book, '' A Natural History of California''.
He received his PhD in zoology at Arizona Stat ...
''. University of California Press.
Plant communities of California
Salt marsh plants
Habitats
Environment of California