Salicornia and other annuals colonizing mud and sand

Description (English)

Formations composed mostly or predominantly of annuals, in particular Chenopodiaceae of the genus Salicornia or grasses, colonising periodically inundated muds and sands of marine or interior salt marshes. Thero-Salicornietea, Frankenietea pulverulentae, Saginetea maritimae.
Subtypes:
Pal. 15.11 - Glasswort swards (Thero-Salicornietalia): annual glasswort (Salicornia spp., Microcnemum coralloides), seablite (Suaeda maritima), or sometimes salwort (Salsola spp.) formations colonising periodically inundated muds of coastal saltmarshes and inland salt-basins.
Pal. 15.12 - Mediterranean halo-nitrophilous pioneer communities (Frankenion pulverulentae): formations of halo-nitrophilous annuals (Frankenia pulverulenta, Suaeda splendens, Salsola soda, Cressa cretica, Parapholis incurva, P. strigosa, Hordeum marinum, Sphenopus divaricatus) colonising salt muds of the Mediterranean region, susceptible to temporary inundation and extreme drying.
Pal. 15.13 - Atlantic sea-pearlwort communities (Saginion maritimae): formations of annual pioneers occupying sands subject to variable salinity and humidity, on the coasts, in dune systems and saltmarshes. They are usually limited to small areas and best developed in the zone of contact between dune and saltmarsh.
Pal. 15.14 Central Eurasian crypsoid communities : Sparse solonchak formations of annual grasses of genus Crypsis (Heleochloa) colonizing drying muds of humid depressions of the salt steppes and saltmarshes (Pal. 15.A) of Eurasia, from Pannonia to the Far East.