Unity Freshwater Mud Flat Community

Freshwater Mud Flat Community State Rank: S4 - Secure

Freshwater Mud Flat Communities have size and connectedness. High- low, sparse annual herbaceous energy Riverbank vegetation on recently exposed muddy Communities occur along the shores of fast flowing, high sediments in ponds and streams; energy rivers with sparse plants Species, size, and boundaries change growing in sediment caught seasonally and annually; between rock cobbles. Riverine Pointbar and Beach may include aquatic plants stranded when Communities are along higher the water receded such plants include energy rivers on sand or gravel. yellow water-lily, duckweeds, rushes and Deep and Shallow Emergent FW Mud Flat along the Housatonic River. Photo: bladderworts. Marshes have dense graminoid Michael Batcher. emergent plants on mucky Differentiating from Related sediments, often with standing Description: Freshwater (FW) Mud Communities: Freshwater Mud Flat water at the base of the plants. In tidal Habitat for Associated Fauna: Flat Communities develop over the Communities have low, sparse annual areas mud flats are considered to be parts Many wide ranging animals include summer as water levels go down and herbaceous vegetation on recently of adjacent Freshwater or Brackish Tidal Freshwater Mud Flats as part of their sediments are exposed in low-gradient exposed muddy (fine mixed organic and Marshes. Mud flats in coastal plain ponds habitats. Shore birds such as Spotted and and abandoned stream channels, mineral materials) sediments in rivers and are treated as parts of the Coastal Plain Solitary Sandpipers forage on Freshwater backwaters, and beaver, oxbow, and other ponds where they may include stranded Pondshore Community. Mud flats that Mud Flats throughout their breeding ponds that are usually flooded during aquatic vegetation. Low-energy emerge after human mediated water season and those and additional winters or other times of high water. The Riverbank Communities are on slopes of lowering of lakes or rivers are usually shorebirds such as Greater Yellowlegs mucky, silty mineral soils are poorly river banks composed of a mix of temporary and would develop River and stop at Mud Flats during migration. drained and may remain saturated even relatively fine mineral materials (clay, silt, Lake Drawdown Communities that could when the surface is exposed. Succession or sand). The stream bottoms of Low- be extensions of naturally occurring mud Examples with Public Access: to other communities occurs at all sites energy Riverbanks can merge into FW flats. Hop Brook WMA, Lee. when flooding is removed, particularly Mud Flats; separation depends on patch notable in abandoned beaver ponds.

Characteristic Species: Often sparsely vegetated, Freshwater Mud Flat Communities are typically dominated by annuals or herbaceous perennials such as water-purslane, smartweeds, rice cut- grass, swamp-candles, ditch-stonecrop, or little spike-rush. Mudflat spike-rush is restricted to calcareous or circumneutral mudflats. In oxbows in floodplain forests, trees such as silver maple or American elm may overhang these communities providing partial cover. In ponded A Freshwater Mud Flat with stranded aquatic Oily water in footprints in the mucky sediments of Killdeer on mucky sediments of a FW Mud Flat. situations FW Mud Flat Communities plants. Photo: Melissa Dow Cullina, NHESP. a FW Mud Flat. Photo: Chloe Stuart, NHESP. Photo: Bill Byrne, MassWildlife.

From: Classification of Natural Communities of Massachusetts htthttpp://www;mass;gov/nhesp/://www;mass;gov/nhesp/ Updated: 2016 Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Division of FishFisheeriesries & Wildlife, 1 Rabbit Hill Rd;, Westborough, M! 01581 (508) 389-6360