Table 3.53. Definitions of the habitats of the Chenier Plain. 



Habitat types 



Aquatic 



1. Nearshore Gulf — all waters between the coastline and the 9 m (30 ft) depth contour in the Gulf of Mexico. 



Intermittently exposed mudflats are considered part of this habitat. 



2. Inland open water — all inland lakes, rivers, bayous and canals, including intermittently exposed mudflats. 



Emergent wetland 



3. Salt marsh — saline intertidal marshes dominated by smooth cordgrass^, with saltgrass and blackrush 



common. 



4. Brackish marsh — intertidal marshes and associated small ponds dominated by saltmeadow cordgrass and 



saltgrass; salinities generally less than 10 °/00. 



5. Intermediate marsh — marshes and associated small ponds, periodically flooded with nearly fresh water, but 



occasionally by brackish water. Dominated by saltgrass, buUtongue, and seashore paspalum. 



6. Fresh marsh — marshes flooded by fresh water, and with a diverse flora dominated by maidencane, bulltongue, 



and alligatorweed. 



7. Swamp forest ~ forested freshwater wetlands with diverse flora dominated by baldcypress and tupelo. 



8. Impounded marsh — marshes surrounded by dikes, spoil banks, or natural levees that modify normal 



flooding. These exist in saline to fresh areas. They may be permanently flooded or pumped dry, but all 

 are dominated by native emergent wetland vegetation (as opposed to impounded agricultural land). 



Upland 



9. Ridge (cheniers, levees, spoil banks. Pleistocene islands) — landforms elevated above normal flood levels. 



Linear features within the wetlands except for Pleistocene islands. Usually forested except for recent 

 spoil banks. 



10. Beach — narrow strip of land along the Gulf, composed of fine sand and shell fragments. Sparsely vegetated. 



1 1. Upland forest — areas of bottomland hardwood and pine forest on the upland Pleistocene terrace. 



Agricultural 



12. Rice field — cropland planted in rice or other crops, whether leveed or not. Often rotated with pasture. 



13. Pasture — land improved for grazing by planting of improved grasses and by fertilization. Often rotated 



with rice field. 



Urban 



14. Urban - land areas developed for residential and industrial use. A land use category, but not described as a 



habitat for native fauna. 



Scientific names of plants listed in Table 4.27. 



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