Figure 13. Pure stand of cordgrass 

 ( Spartlna follosa ) at Tijuana Estuary. 

 Photo by C. Nordby. 



that additional habitats are suitable for 

 growth but some factor limits seedling 

 establishment in southern California. 

 Substantial increases in its abundance 

 surrounding abandoned sewage lagoons at 

 Tijuana ..Estuary coincided with brackish 

 soils after the 1980 floods. From this we 

 suggest that episodic events are extremely 

 important in controlling the spread of 

 cordgrass and perhaps other southern 

 California halophytes which require 

 reduced salinities for germination and 

 early growth. 



Pickleweed ( Salicornia virginica , 

 Figure 14) has the broadest distribution 

 of any southern California salt marsh 

 plant. It occurs throughout most of the 

 elevational range of cordgrass as well as 

 the middle and high marsh habitats. It 

 even dominates saline dredge spoil 

 deposits well above the intertidal zone at 

 the Ballona Wetland in Los Angeles. 

 Presumably it is able to grow in saline 



areas without tidal influence if seasonal 

 rainfall accumulates long enough to allow 

 seed germination and seedling estab- 

 lishment or if moisture is available from 

 runoff or subterranean sources. 

 Pickleweed is abundant in the lower and 

 middle elevations of well- flushed marshes 

 and in lagoons closed to tidal 

 circulation. Also, it appears to be an 

 opportunistic invader which is capable of 

 becoming established on disturbed soils. 

 Reproduction in situ is primarily 

 vegetative, but seedlings readily appear 

 in bare spots. 



Not only is pickleweed variable in 

 the habitats it occupies, it also is 

 variable in its growth form. At Tijuana 

 Estuary, individuals in the lower marsh 

 are decumbent and elongate, while middle 

 and higher elevations are more upright and 

 bushy. The middle elevations at Mission 

 Bay marsh support very short individuals 

 which contrast sharply with taller plants 

 both below and above this zone. While 

 there have been many speculations about 

 the causes of these variations, from 

 genetic to environmental differences, 

 including waterfowl grazing, the 

 experimental tests (e.g. transplantation, 

 grazing exclosures, etc.) have not been 

 done. 



The biomass and growth 

 characteristics of pickleweed have been 

 measured in painstaking detail by Chris 

 Onuf (unpub. ms . ) at Mugu Lagoon. By 

 tagging and measuring all branches of 25 

 or more plants each month in 1977, he 

 determined that (1) pickleweed grows all 

 year long, with new shoots being produced 

 in every month; (2) most new shoots appear 

 in March and July; and (3) annual 

 productivity was estimated to be 210 g dry 

 weight/m /yr . Concurrent monthly measures 

 of pickleweed standing crops showed that 

 (1) dry weight of green, succulent 

 branches increased gradually from February 

 to a peak in August; (2) live woody stem 

 parts (brown in color) averaged over 300 

 g/m in April, but about 100 g/m in July 

 and November, indicating that losses occur 

 through the growing season; and (3) much 

 (perhaps two-thirds) of the growth of 



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