Introduction
The salt-marsh communities of the NVC were described in Volume 5 of '' British Plant Communities'', first published in 2000, along with the other maritime communities (those of shingle strandline and sand-dunes and maritime cliffs) and vegetation of open habitats. In total, 28 salt-marsh communities have been identified. The salt-marsh communities consist of four separate subgroups: * three eel-grass and tassel-weed communities of tidal flats, pools and ditches ( SM1, SM2 and SM3) * thirteen communities of the lower salt-marsh ( SM4, SM5, SM6, SM7, SM8, SM9, SM10, SM11, SM12, SM13, SM14, SM15 and SM26) * nine communities of the middle salt-marsh ( SM16, SM17, SM18, SM19, SM20, SM21, SM22, SM23 and SM27) * three communities of the upper salt-marsh ( SM24, SM25 and SM28)Other communities occurring on salt-marshes
There are a number of other communities which occur on salt-marshes, but are not classified as salt-marsh communities within the NVC. Those listed in ''British Plant Communities'' are as follows:List of salt-marsh communities
The following is a list of the communities that make up this category: * SM1 ''Zostera'' communities Zosterion Christiansen 1934 * SM2 ''Ruppia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Ruppietum maritimae'' Hocquette 1927 * SM3 ''Eleocharis parvula'' salt-marsh community ''Eleocharitetum parvulae'' (Preuss 1911/12) Gillner 1960 * SM4 ''Spartina maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum maritimae'' (Emb. & Regn. 1926) Corillion 1953 * SM5 ''Spartina alterniflora'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum alterniflorae'' Corillion 1953 * SM6 ''Spartina anglica'' salt-marsh community ''Spartinetum townsendii'' (Tansley 1939) Corillion 1953 * SM7 ''Arthrocnemum perenne'' stands * SM8 Annual ''Salicornia'' salt-marsh community ''Salicornietum europaeae'' Warming 1906 * SM9 ''Suaeda maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Suaedetum maritimae'' (Conrad 1935) Pignatti 1953 * SM10 Transitional low-marsh vegetation with ''Puccinellia maritima'', annual ''Salicornia'' species and ''Suaeda maritima'' * SM11 ''Aster tripolium'' var. ''discoideus'' salt-marsh community ''Asteretum tripolii'' Tansley 1939 * SM12 Rayed ''Aster tripolium'' on salt-marshes * SM13 ''Puccinellia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Puccinellietum maritimae'' (Warming 1906) Christiansen 1927 * SM14 ''Halimione portaculoides'' salt-marsh community ''Halimionetum portulacoidis'' (Kuhnholtz-Lordat 1927) Des Abbayes & Corillion 1949 * SM15 ''Juncus maritimus - Triglochin maritima'' salt-marsh community * SM16 ''Festuca rubra'' salt-marsh community ''Juncetum gerardi'' Warming 1906 * SM17 ''Artemisia maritima'' salt-marsh community ''Artemisietum maritimae'' Hocquette 1927 * SM18 ''Juncus maritimus'' salt-marsh community * SM19 ''Blysmus rufus'' salt-marsh community ''Blysmetum rufi'' (G.E. & G. Du Rietz 1925) Gillner 1960 * SM20 ''Eleocharis uniglumis'' salt-marsh community ''Eleocharitetum uniglumis'' Nordhagen 1923 * SM21 ''Suaeda vera - Limonium binervosum'' salt-marsh community * SM22 ''Halimione portulacoides - Frankenia laevis'' salt-marsh community ''Limonio vulgaris - Frankenietum laevis'' Géhu & Géhu-Franck 1975 * SM23 ''Spergularia marina - Puccinellia distans'' salt-marsh community ''Puccinellietum distantis'' Feekes (1934) 1945 * SM24 ''Elymus pycnanthus'' salt-marsh community ''Atriplici-Elymetum pycnanthi'' Beeftink & Westhoff 1962 * SM25 ''Suaeda vera'' drift-line community ''Elymo pycnanthi - Suaedetum verae'' (Arènes 1933) Géhu 1975 * SM26 ''Inula crithmoides'' on salt-marshes * SM27 Ephermeral salt-marsh vegetation with ''Sagina maritima'' Saginion maritimae Westhoff, van Leeuwen & Adriani 1962 * SM28 ''Elymus repens'' salt-marsh community ''Elymetum repentis maritimum'' Nordhagen 1940External links