In this article, the second of a series of four, a number of swamp communities occurring along former river beds in the forelands of the great rivers in the Netherlands are dealt with according to the new classification of reed swamp and marsh communities (order Phragmitetalia, class Phragmitetea) in WESTHOFF & DEN HELD (1969). For more background information the reader is referred to VAN DONSELAAR (1961, 1971). The association Typhetum angustifoliae (alliance Phragmition) can be recognized in the river forelands. There its composition is identical with that in stagnant fresh waters. However, a comparison with the communities of the backswamps in the fresh water tidal area (ZONNEVELD, 1960) makes it questionable whether the new classification can be applied there. The same question arises with regard to the Typhetum latifoliae (alliance Phragmition), an association of which our material is too scanty to permit extensive comparisons. Two associations of the alliance Oenanthion are treated. The Rorippo-Oenanthetum is a characteristic community of former beds which are relatively strongly influenced by the current during the annual high water, so that formation of a peaty or even humic soil is prevented. It appears that there are no descriptions from other habitats in the Netherlands. A form of the Sparganio-Sagittarietum (without Sparganium emersum), present in a few former beds, is only briefly mentioned.

Gorteria: tijdschrift voor de floristiek, de plantenoecologie en het vegetatie-onderzoek van Nederland

Released under the CC-BY 4.0 ("Attribution") License

Naturalis journals & series

van Donselaar, J. (1973). Phragmitetalia-gemeenschappen in de uiterwaarden, 2. Typhetum angustifoliae, Typhetum latifoliae, Rorippo-Oenanthetum en Sparganio-Sagittarietum. Gorteria: tijdschrift voor de floristiek, de plantenoecologie en het vegetatie-onderzoek van Nederland, 6(7), 109–117.