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].

Related categories for Kuchler Type: Northern cordgrass prairie