Abstract
In order to provide ecologically meaningful recommendations for delimiting coastal wetland (salt marsh) boundaries, we used five approaches to analyze elevation and vegetation data from Bahia de San Quintin, Baja California. The 2-dm elevation band with the steepest slope coincided with the band of lowest compositional similarity and the band with the most species distributional limits. Consistent results, using three analytical approaches, suggest that this band represents an ecological boundary. For Bahia de San Quintín, we suggest that the upper salt marsh boundary coincides with the upper limits ofFrankenia grandifolia,Limonium californicum, andSuaeda esteroa, and the lower limits ofFrankenia palmeri andLycium species.
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Zedler, J.B., Cox, G.W. Characterizing wetland boundaries: A pacific coast example. Wetlands 4, 43–55 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160486
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160486