| Summary: | The results were discussed of an ecological study of salt marsh vegetation along the estuaries of the rivers Scheldt, Meuse and Rhine (incl. the Eastern Scheldt) as a part of European halophytic vegetation.Communities were classified by the Swiss-French system of Braun Blanquet. Special attention was devoted to a cybernetic approach to the vegetation and its habitat as accomplished in space and time.Environmental aspects considered included the stable borders between the Arctic, Atlantic, Continental and Mediterranean climatic types along the West European coast, the ecological significance of tides, the origin of mud flats and salt marshes, physical and chemical properties of the soil and their relation to sedimentation, and biotic factors. choice between intraregional and interregional classification could be based only on floristic relationships. Existing, mostly regional systems could be combined into a single classification scheme for the whole European halophytic vegetation.Finally West European salt marsh communities, including tidal drift communities, were described, especially those of the south-west Netherlands.
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