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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation Type > Northern Cordgrass Prairie
 

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KUCHLER TYPE VALUE AND USE

KUCHLER TYPE: Northern cordgrass prairie
FORESTRY VALUES : NO-ENTRY RANGE VALUES : Tidal marshes have been diked (to reduce water flow) for development of grazing lands [39]. Grazing is more important on cordgrass prairie on the Gulf coast than on the Atlantic coast [46]. Aboveground plant productivity has been reported for saltmeadow cordgrass, smooth cordgrass, saltgrass, and black rush [32]. WILDLIFE VALUES : Productivity: The net primary productivity of tidal saltmarshes is the highest of any of the world's ecosystems [33]. The high productivity of tidal saltmarshes is important to numerous species of wildlife. Some species are completely dependent on the marsh, and some use marshes only for breeding, feeding, nesting, rearing of young, and/or resting during migration. Tidal saltmarshes are important producers of shrimp, crabs, oysters, and clams. At least 40 species of fish spawn in estuaries, and at least 136 species use them as nursery grounds. Northern cordgrass prairie is important year-round bird habitat, and provides breeding grounds, overwintering areas, and feeding grounds for many species of migratory waterfowl and other birds [13,47,48,32]. Specific relationships of animals and salt marsh plants are discussed [6,13,32,36,40,44]. Aquaculture of oysters, shrimp, and fish has been practiced in saltmarshes elsewhere in the world; research on these uses for saltmarshes in the eastern United States is underway [39]. OTHER VALUES : Tidal saltmarshes maintain water quality: They remove and retain nutrients from water, transform some chemical and organic wastes, and reduce water sediment loads. Tidal saltmarshes are considered important shoreline stabilizers due to the wave dampening effect. A fringe of saltmarsh grasses as narrow as 8 feet (2.4 m) can reduce wave energy by over 50 percent [48]. Saltmarsh grasses reduce erosion by forming dense mats of roots and rhizomes in the substrate. Along the Atlantic coast, planting of smooth cordgrass has been particularly effective in reducing shoreline erosion [32,48]. Tidal saltmarshes are valued for recreation and esthetics as well, although this was not always the case. Interest in saltmarshes was primarily a by-product of the more general interest in ecosystems that arose in the 1960's [32,45,48]. Extensive areas of northern cordgrass prairie have been diked to reduce water flow for salt hay (largely saltmeadow cordgrass) production [49]. Salt hay is primarily used for animal bedding, mulching, and topping (dryland) haystacks to keep out moisture. It is not used much for animal feed [36]. Marsh grasses have been used for roof thatch [39]. The large capacity of saltmarshes for absorbing nutrients has led to the use of marshes as systems for wastewater processing. Interest in this use has even led to the construction of artificial marshes for the primary purpose of wastewater treatment [30,39,54]. Research on the consequences of this use is ongoing [54]. MANAGEMENT CONCERNS : Management of tidal marshes has included drastic changes in physiography and hydrology. Marshes have been drained and filled for a variety of purposes including agriculture, mosquito control, industrial and residential development, and transportation (including construction of channels for access to oil and gas fields) [7,42]. Many tidal saltmarshes are protected by legislation or belong to state or national preserves [47]. In the mid 1970's, it was estimated that estuarine-emergent wetlands (tidal saltmarshes) covered 3.9 million acres in the conterminous United States, which is probably less than 46 percent of the total acreage before European settlement [45,47]. Concern over the destruction of thousands of acres of tidal saltmarshes led to the institution of a number of wetlands protection laws, and has founded (and funded) much research on tidal salt marsh ecology. Tidal saltmarshes, once viewed as wasteland or mosquito breeding grounds, are now more widely recognized for their positive values and are the focus of many conservation activities [47]. Construction of ditches for mosquito control lowers the water table in saltmarshes and results in invasion of lower marshes by high marsh plants, and a substantial reduction in the numbers of invertebrates [42]. Diking and draining of tidal saltmarshes for grazing development is detrimental to soils, net primary productivity, and macroinvertebrate populations. It results in changes in plant successional trends and reduces detritus production [41]. In Connecticut, a cordgrass-dominated marsh was tidally restricted in 1946 and consequently converted mostly to narrow-leaved cattail. With the reintroduction of tidal flooding in 1978, much of the marsh is now dominated by smooth cordgrass [4]. In many areas, due to drainage and channelization projects, common reed has displaced tall smooth cordgrass from low marshes [48]. The sedge wren (Cistothorus platensis) and savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), both of which are listed as threatened in New Jersey, are dependent on brackish marshes [49]. Research to explore tidal saltmarsh development using dredging spoils is underway. In Georgia, seven marsh plant species were planted on dredged material at three elevations to determine the planting guidelines [27]. Recommendations for management of tidal saltmarshes, including wetlands creation and restoration, have been discussed and described in the literature [19,30,39,42,47,59].

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