Abstract for F030
Tropical Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland [does not occur in Canada]
Prairies humides, marais d’eau douce et arbustaies de la zone tropicale [absentes du Canada]
Tropical Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland includes wet meadows, shallow and deep emergent marshes. These wetlands have shallow water and levels that usually fluctuate daily, seasonally or annually due to tides (freshwater tidal), flooding, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, or seepage losses, with the upper limits of salinity at 0.5 ppt, above which it is considered saltwater. The vegetation comprises evergreen emergent aquatic macrophytes, chiefly graminoids such as rushes, reeds, grasses and sedges, and shrubs and other herbaceous species such as broad-leaved emergent macrophytes, floating-leaved and submergent species, and nonvascular plants such as brown mosses, liverworts, and macroscopic algae. Vegetation is usually arranged in distinct zones of parallel or concentric patterns in response to gradients of water depth, frequency of drawdown, water chemistry or disturbance. Saline or brackish non-tidal marshes are included here. Seasonal drawdowns may expose mudflats which are revegetated by pioneering herb and grass species. The vegetation of seasonal marshes is dynamic. It shifts spatially with water levels and changes in composition over a short time, whereas the vegetation of semipermanent marshes usually is more stable, represented by stands of reeds which may persist for many years in the absence of severe drought.
Source: Faber-Langendoen, D., T. Keeler-Wolf, D. Meidinger, C. Josse, A. Weakley, D. Tart, G. Navarro, B. Hoagland, S. Ponomarenko, J.-P. Saucier, G. Fults, E. Helmer. 2014. Classification and description of world formation types. Part I (Introduction) and Part II (Description of world formations). Hierarchy Revisions Working Group, Federal Geographic Data Committee, FGDC Secretariat, U.S. Geological Survey. Reston, VA, and NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
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