A pioneer plant community that develops in a low-lying region of land originally beneath the sea and subsequently silted up with mud, silt, and shingle. The plants must be adapted to survive inundation by the tide twice a day. A major pioneer plant is glasswort (Salicornia europaea), which gradually gives way to salt-marsh grasses (Puccinellia) or sea aster (Aster tripolium). when the salinity decreases other species, such as thrift (Armeria maritima) and seablites (Suaeda), grow. The region becomes stabilized to form mudflats and salt marshes. See also sere. |
