Atrotorquata lineata as a proxy for Juncus roemerianus, Part I: Atrotorquata lineata as a proxy for Juncus roemerianus in surface sediments from high-level salt marshes in the southeastern United States

Abstract

Juncus roemerianus is a plant that occurs at the upper reaches of salt water influence in marshes from Delaware to Texas. In 2006 a palynomorphic fingerprint to identify surface sediment from J. roemerianus marshes was discovered in a South Carolina study (Marsh 2006, Marsh & Cohen 2008). This fingerprint had four components: (1) high palynomorphic abundance, (2) high palynomorphic diversity, (3) high concentration of Fungal Type A (greater than 10% of the palynomorphs in a given sample) and (4) the presence of the spores of the fungus Atrotorquata lineata, which occurred in the sediments of J. roemerianus marshes but not in the sediments collected from any other marsh type, even in sediments collected less than a meter away from J. roemerianus.

Keywords

• Atrotorquata lineata
• Juncus roemerianus
• Palynology
• high level salt marsh
• fungal proxy
• Southeastern United States