Pioneer vegetation of perennial cord grasses on tidal flats of temperate seas of the World
Spartinetea maritimae Beeftink 1962
Spartinetea maritimae Beeftink 1962
spa01 | The floristic and ecological differences between this unit and the Thero-Salicornietea Tx. in Tx. et Oberd. 1958 are considered as minor by some authors, suggesting inclusion of the Spartinion glabrae Conrad 1935 into the Thero-Salicornietalia Pignatti 1953. The vegetation classified within the latter syntaxa is found often in close proximity under very similar ecological conditions, only differentiated by a moderate difference in life-form prevalence. The comprehensive vegetation tables in Schaminée et al. (1998a) suggest that those species considered as character species of one class are also very frequent in the other class too, making their separation at class level doubtful. (J. Dengler) L. Mucina disagrees as there is fundamental ecological and vegetation-dynamical difference between the annual-herb dominated Thero-Salicornietea and the perennial-grass dominated Spartinetea. The former vegetation often forms micro-patches within the swards of Spartina and using larger sampling plots would naturally result in co-occurrence of the typical species of the respective classes.