Sporobolus alterniflorus

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Sporobolus alterniflorus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Sporobolus
Species:
S. alterniflorus
Binomial name
Sporobolus alterniflorus
(
Loisel.) P.M.Peterson & Saarela
Synonyms
List
    • Dactylis fasciculata Lam.
    • Dactylis maritima Walter
    • Limnetis glabra (Muhl. ex Elliott) Nutt.
    • Rottboellia paniculata Salzm. ex Steud.
    • Spartina alterniflora Loisel.
    • Spartina alterniflora var. glabra (Muhl. ex Elliott) Fernald
    • Spartina alterniflora var. pilosa (Merr.) Fernald
    • Spartina bahiensis Steud.
    • Spartina brasiliensis Raddi
    • Spartina dissitiflora Steud.
    • Spartina fasciculata P.Beauv.
    • Spartina glabra var. alterniflora (Loisel.) Merr.
    • Spartina glabra var. pilosa Merr.
    • Spartina laevigata Bosc ex Link
    • Spartina maritima var. alterniflora (Loisel.) St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima var. brasiliensis (Raddi) St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima subvar. fallax St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima var. glabra (Muhl. ex Elliott) St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima subsp. glabra (Muhl. ex Elliott) St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima subvar. pilosa (Merr.) St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima subvar. radii St.-Yves
    • Spartina stricta var. alterniflora (Loisel.) A.Gray
    • Spartina stricta var. maritima Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.
    • Trachynotia alterniflora (Loisel.) DC.

Sporobolus alterniflorus, or synonymously known as Spartina alterniflora, the smooth cordgrass,

salt meadow cordgrass in the high marsh.[4] It grows in a wide range of salinities, from about 5 psu to marine (32 psu), and has been described as the "single most important marsh plant species in the estuary" of Chesapeake Bay.[5] It is described as intolerant of shade.[6]

S. alterniflorus is noted for its capacity to act as an environmental engineer. It grows out into the water at the seaward edge of a salt marsh, and accumulates sediment and enables other habitat-engineering species, such as mussels, to settle. This accumulation of sediment and other substrate-building species gradually builds up the level of the land at the seaward edge, and other, higher-marsh species move onto the new land. As the marsh accretes, S. alterniflorus moves still further out to form a new edge. S. alterniflorus grows in tallest forms at the outermost edge of a given marsh, displaying shorter morphologies up onto the landward side of the Sporobolus belt.

S. alterniflorus is native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Newfoundland, Canada, south to northern Argentina, where it forms a dominant part of brackish coastal saltmarshes.

The

Aaron's skipper
(Poanes aaroni) have only been found on this species to date.

Problems as an invasive species

Sporobolus alterniflorus can become an

habitat
is overgrown, and in turn, food sources shrink for birds who feed on those invertebrates.

One example of an invasive Sporobolus alterniflorus hybrid is that of

inundation in salt water
for longer periods of time. S. anglicus has since spread throughout northwest Europe, and (following introduction for erosion control) eastern North America.

The world's largest invasion of Sporobolus alterniflorus is in China, where plants from multiple North American locations were intentionally planted starting in 1979 with the intention of providing shore protection and sediment capture. The invasion has spread to over 34,000 hectares in ten provinces and Hong Kong.[7]

In Willapa Bay of Washington state, Sporobolus alterniflorus was probably an accidental introduction during oyster transplants during the nineteenth century and may have dispersed from there to other parts of the state. At its peak of infestation in 2003, it covered approximately 3,000 hectares (more than 8,500 acres), spread across an area of 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres). As of 2016, the infestation had been reduced to less than 3 solid hectares (7 acres).[8]

In

S. foliosa, and to potentially eliminate it from San Francisco Bay.[10]

Sporobolus alterniflorus has also been found to hybridize with S. foliosa, producing offspring Sporobolus alterniflorus × S. foliosa that may be an even greater threat than S. alterniflorus by itself.

creeks, bays, and more remote coastal locations. The hybrids produce enormous amounts of pollen, which swamp the stigmas of the native S. foliosa flowers to produce even larger numbers of hybrid offspring, leaving the affected native Sporobolus species little chance to produce unhybridized offspring. The hybrids also produce much larger numbers of fertile seeds than the native Sporobolus species, and are producing a hybrid population that, left unchecked, can increase not only in population size but also in its rate of population growth.[9] The hybrids may also be able to fertilize themselves, which the native Sporobolus species cannot do, thus increasing the spread of the hybrid swarm even further. As of 2014, eradication efforts had reduced the infestation of S. alterniflorus and hybrids in the San Francisco Bay Area by 96%, from 323 net hectares at its peak to 12 net hectares.[13] Taller than either of the parent species, the hybrid provides good shelter to Ridgway's rail, an occasional roadblock to its eradication.[14]

Several means of control and eradication have been employed against Sporobolus alterniflorus where it has become a pest. Hand pulling is ineffective because even small rhizome fragments that inevitably break off and get left in the soil are capable of sending up new shoots. Imazapyr, an herbicide, is approved for aquatic use and is used effectively in Washington and California to kill it. In Willapa Bay, leafhopper bugs (Prokelisia marginata) were employed to kill the plants, which threaten the oyster industry there, but this method did not contain the invasion. Surveys by air, land, and sea are conducted in infested and threatened areas near San Francisco to determine the spread of Sporobolus species.

References

  1. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Spartina alterniflora". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  2. doi:10.12705/636.19
    .
  3. PMID 31398280
    .
  4. ^ http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/spaalt/all.html USDA Forest Service Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) for Spartina alterniflora
  5. ^ Lippson, AJ & RL Lippson. 2006. Life in the Chesapeake Bay, 3rd ed., p.295. Johns Hopkins Press.
  6. ^ http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=spal USDA NRCS PLANTS profile for Spartina alterniflora
  7. S2CID 85651095
    .
  8. ^ https://agr.wa.gov/plantsinsects/weeds/spartina/default.aspx, Washington State Department of Agriculture Spartina Eradication Annual Reports. Accessed 7/12/18.
  9. ^
    S2CID 24732543
    .
  10. S2CID 86778195
    .
  11. S2CID 32865913
    .
  12. S2CID 43049200
    .
  13. S2CID 14283700
    .
  14. ^ Verge (August 7, 2018). "This monster plant is trying to take over. What if we let it?". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 24 December 2020.

External links

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