Marsh Vegetation Types of the Chenier Plain, Louisiana, USA

Coastal Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico

“…The mesohaline mixture type is co-dominated by Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata, but S. patens also frequently occurs. Visser et al (2000) found this vegetation type in the marshes fringing the GoM and the western shoreline of Calcasieu Lake.…”

“…The mesohaline wiregrass type is co-dominated by Spartina patens and Schoenoplectus americanus (¼Scirpus olneyi). This marsh type is mostly found along the fringing marshes of Vermillion Bay, but is also present along the eastern shore of Calcasieu Lake and south of Sabine Lake (Visser et al 2000). The mesohaline mixture type is co-dominated by Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata, but S. patens also frequently occurs.…”

“…Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata are often subdominant species, depending on local topography and salinity (Visser et al 1998). In the higher elevation Chenier Plain of southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, the high marsh species, Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata, dominate brackish coastline marshes (Visser et al 2000). Salt marsh vegetation dominates the shorelines of the eastern section (Delta Plain) of the Louisiana coast while both brackish and saline marshes occur along the western Louisiana coastline (Chenier Plain) (Figure 6.123).…”

“…Polyhaline oystergrass is always dominated by Spartina alterniflora, and sometimes co-dominates with J. roemerianus. In contrast, the coastal marshes of the Chenier Plain are divided into two primary types: mesohaline wiregrass and mesohaline mixture, both of which have brackish salinities (Visser et al 2000). The mesohaline wiregrass type is co-dominated by Spartina patens and Schoenoplectus americanus (¼Scirpus olneyi).…”

Environmental Assessment for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve West Hackberry Facility Raw Water Intake Pipeline Replacement Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana

“…The Deltaic Plain is associated with eastern Louisiana and the barrier islands built by the Mississippi River (USGS, 2004). One of the major differences between the oligohaline (brackish) marsh (0.5-5.0 ppt) of the Chenier Plain and the Deltaic plain is that Cattail and Roseau cane are commonly found in the Chenier Plain marsh zone while they are rare in the Deltaic Plain (Visser et al, 2000).…”