Ecology of a mediterranean-climate estuarine wetland at Carpinteria, California; plant distributions and soil salinity in the upper marsh

The low marsh zone was high in salinity throughout the year; the salt flat zone was hypersaline throughout the year; the transition zone was hypersaline in summer and fall, and low in salinity in winter and spring; and the nonflooded grassland was low in salinity throughout the year. The transition zone was densely populated with winter annuals that were distributed along gradients of elevation and soil salinity. The relative growth rates and the germination of each of these annuals in experimental solutions of different salinities corresponded with the winter and spring soil salinities of the subzones occupied in the field. -from Authors