Rey, J. R., Carlson, D. B., and Brockmeyer, R., 2012a. Coastal wetland management in Florida: environmental concerns and
human health. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 20,
197–211.
Rey, J. R., Walton, W. E., Wolfe, R. J., Connelly, C. R., O’Connell,
S. M., Berg, J., and Laderman, A. D., 2012b. North
American wetlands and mosquito control. International Journal
of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2012,
4537–4605.
Stedman, S.-M., and Dahl, T. E., 2008. Status and Trends of Wetlands in The Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States
1998 to 2004. Washington, D.C.: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Twilley, R. R., and Rivera-Monroy, V. H., 2005. Developing performance measures of mangrove wetlands using simulation models
of hydrology, nutrient biogeochemistry, and community dynamics. Journal of Coastal Research, 40, 79–93.
UN (United Nations), 2013. UN Atlas of the Oceans. http://www.
oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status¼ND0xODc3JjY9Z
W4mMzM9KiYzNz1rb3M~. Accessed April, 2013.
Cross-references
Barrier Island
Cordgrass
Deltas
Estuarine Deltaic Wetlands
Fiddler Crabs
Food Web/Trophic Dynamics
Mangroves
Nutrient Dynamics
Saltmarshes
Sandflat
Sea-Level Change and Coastal Wetlands
Tidal Flat
Wetlands
CORDGRASS
Keryn Gedan
Department of Biology, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD, USA
Synonyms
Salt-marsh cordgrass; Spartina spp.
Definition
Cordgrass refers to species within the Spartina genus of
grasses (Poaceae). Cordgrass is the dominant plant in salt
marshes in many regions.
Description
The genus Spartina includes 15 species (ITIS, 2013).
Cordgrass species have long slender leaves and tall inflorescences with many spikelets, each holding many seeds.
They are perennial, wind pollinated, and, often, dispersal
limited.
Cordgrass species are halophytic, with special adaptations like salt-excreting glands and aerenchymous
rhizomes for saline and anoxic soil conditions. They are
often the dominant plant in edaphically stressful intertidal
salt-marsh ecosystems. In western Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico salt marshes, Spartina alterniflora is the dominant
plant species, confined to the low marsh by competition
with its congener, S. patens, which dominates the high
marsh (Bertness, 1991). S. densiflora is the dominant plant
in South American salt marshes.
Cordgrass species are highly invasive and often able to
hybridize with each other. S. townsendii and S. anglica
species originated by hybridization within the last
150 years (Daehler and Strong, 1996). S. densiflora is
invasive in Spain (Nieva et al., 2005) and in California,
where it has hybridized with the native S. foliosa (Ayres
et al., 2008). S. anglica, S. alterniflora, and S. patens have
been introduced in China (An et al., 2007) and in the
western United States (Daehler and Strong, 1996).
Cordgrass has been introduced intentionally for shoreline stabilization (Ranwell, 1967). Cordgrass is a marsh
builder and a true ecosystem engineer (Gedan et al.,
2011). Cordgrass is also valuable as livestock fodder,
central to salt-marsh food webs, and efficient at sequestering carbon and nitrogen.
Bibliography
An, S. Q., Gu, B. H., Zhou, C. F., Wang, Z. S., Deng, Z. F., Zhi,
Y. B., Li, H. L., Chen, L., Yu, D. H., and Liu, Y. H., 2007.
Spartina invasion in China: implications for invasive species
management and future research. Weed Research, 47, 183–191.
Ayres, D. R., Grotkopp, E., Zaremba, K., Sloop, C. M., Blum, M. J.,
Bailey, J. P., Anttila, C. K., and Strong, D. R., 2008. Hybridization between invasive Spartina densiflora (Poaceae) and native
S. foliosa in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. American
Journal of Botany, 95, 713–719.
Bertness, M. D., 1991. Zonation of Spartina patens and Spartina
alterniflora in New England salt marsh. Ecology, 72, 138–148.
Daehler, C. C., and Strong, D. R., 1996. Status, prediction and prevention of introduced cordgrass Spartina spp. invasions in
Pacific estuaries, USA. Biological Conservation, 78, 51–58.
Gedan, K. B., Kirwan, M. L., Wolanski, E., Barbier, E. B., and
Silliman, B. R., 2011. The present and future role of coastal wetland vegetation in protecting shorelines: answering recent challenges to the paradigm. Climatic Change, 106, 7–29.
ITIS, 2013. Spartina [WWW Document]. Integrated Taxonomic
Information System. http://www.itis.gov (accessed Jun
26, 2013).
Nieva, F. J. J., Castellanos, E. M., Castillo, J. M., and Figueroa,
M. E., 2005. Clonal growth and tiller demography of the invader
cordgrass Spartina densiflora Brongn. at two contrasting habitats in SW European salt marshes. Wetlands, 25, 122–129.
Ranwell, D. S., 1967. World resources of Spartina townsendii
(sensu lato) and economic use of Spartina marshland. Journal
of Applied Ecology, 4, 239–256.
Cross-references
Coastal Wetlands
Estuarine Deltaic Wetlands
Marsh Islands
Salt Marsh Accretion
Saltmarshes
Wetlands
164
CORDGRASS
human health. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 20,
197–211.
Rey, J. R., Walton, W. E., Wolfe, R. J., Connelly, C. R., O’Connell,
S. M., Berg, J., and Laderman, A. D., 2012b. North
American wetlands and mosquito control. International Journal
of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2012,
4537–4605.
Stedman, S.-M., and Dahl, T. E., 2008. Status and Trends of Wetlands in The Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States
1998 to 2004. Washington, D.C.: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Twilley, R. R., and Rivera-Monroy, V. H., 2005. Developing performance measures of mangrove wetlands using simulation models
of hydrology, nutrient biogeochemistry, and community dynamics. Journal of Coastal Research, 40, 79–93.
UN (United Nations), 2013. UN Atlas of the Oceans. http://www.
oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status¼ND0xODc3JjY9Z
W4mMzM9KiYzNz1rb3M~. Accessed April, 2013.
Cross-references
Barrier Island
Cordgrass
Deltas
Estuarine Deltaic Wetlands
Fiddler Crabs
Food Web/Trophic Dynamics
Mangroves
Nutrient Dynamics
Saltmarshes
Sandflat
Sea-Level Change and Coastal Wetlands
Tidal Flat
Wetlands
CORDGRASS
Keryn Gedan
Department of Biology, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD, USA
Synonyms
Salt-marsh cordgrass; Spartina spp.
Definition
Cordgrass refers to species within the Spartina genus of
grasses (Poaceae). Cordgrass is the dominant plant in salt
marshes in many regions.
Description
The genus Spartina includes 15 species (ITIS, 2013).
Cordgrass species have long slender leaves and tall inflorescences with many spikelets, each holding many seeds.
They are perennial, wind pollinated, and, often, dispersal
limited.
Cordgrass species are halophytic, with special adaptations like salt-excreting glands and aerenchymous
rhizomes for saline and anoxic soil conditions. They are
often the dominant plant in edaphically stressful intertidal
salt-marsh ecosystems. In western Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico salt marshes, Spartina alterniflora is the dominant
plant species, confined to the low marsh by competition
with its congener, S. patens, which dominates the high
marsh (Bertness, 1991). S. densiflora is the dominant plant
in South American salt marshes.
Cordgrass species are highly invasive and often able to
hybridize with each other. S. townsendii and S. anglica
species originated by hybridization within the last
150 years (Daehler and Strong, 1996). S. densiflora is
invasive in Spain (Nieva et al., 2005) and in California,
where it has hybridized with the native S. foliosa (Ayres
et al., 2008). S. anglica, S. alterniflora, and S. patens have
been introduced in China (An et al., 2007) and in the
western United States (Daehler and Strong, 1996).
Cordgrass has been introduced intentionally for shoreline stabilization (Ranwell, 1967). Cordgrass is a marsh
builder and a true ecosystem engineer (Gedan et al.,
2011). Cordgrass is also valuable as livestock fodder,
central to salt-marsh food webs, and efficient at sequestering carbon and nitrogen.
Bibliography
An, S. Q., Gu, B. H., Zhou, C. F., Wang, Z. S., Deng, Z. F., Zhi,
Y. B., Li, H. L., Chen, L., Yu, D. H., and Liu, Y. H., 2007.
Spartina invasion in China: implications for invasive species
management and future research. Weed Research, 47, 183–191.
Ayres, D. R., Grotkopp, E., Zaremba, K., Sloop, C. M., Blum, M. J.,
Bailey, J. P., Anttila, C. K., and Strong, D. R., 2008. Hybridization between invasive Spartina densiflora (Poaceae) and native
S. foliosa in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. American
Journal of Botany, 95, 713–719.
Bertness, M. D., 1991. Zonation of Spartina patens and Spartina
alterniflora in New England salt marsh. Ecology, 72, 138–148.
Daehler, C. C., and Strong, D. R., 1996. Status, prediction and prevention of introduced cordgrass Spartina spp. invasions in
Pacific estuaries, USA. Biological Conservation, 78, 51–58.
Gedan, K. B., Kirwan, M. L., Wolanski, E., Barbier, E. B., and
Silliman, B. R., 2011. The present and future role of coastal wetland vegetation in protecting shorelines: answering recent challenges to the paradigm. Climatic Change, 106, 7–29.
ITIS, 2013. Spartina [WWW Document]. Integrated Taxonomic
Information System. http://www.itis.gov (accessed Jun
26, 2013).
Nieva, F. J. J., Castellanos, E. M., Castillo, J. M., and Figueroa,
M. E., 2005. Clonal growth and tiller demography of the invader
cordgrass Spartina densiflora Brongn. at two contrasting habitats in SW European salt marshes. Wetlands, 25, 122–129.
Ranwell, D. S., 1967. World resources of Spartina townsendii
(sensu lato) and economic use of Spartina marshland. Journal
of Applied Ecology, 4, 239–256.
Cross-references
Coastal Wetlands
Estuarine Deltaic Wetlands
Marsh Islands
Salt Marsh Accretion
Saltmarshes
Wetlands
164
CORDGRASS