<descriptor thcode="62"><thesaurus thcode="62" name="Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard" scope="Categories of ecosystems for coastal, estuarine, and marine environments." creator="FGDC" rights="public domain" date="2017-05-10" codetype="alpha" prefix="cmecs" uri="https://www2.usgs.gov/science/CMECS" tblname="cmecs" root_code="root" contact="pschweitzer"><category><term thcode="25" code="16" name="hierarchical" parent="11" scope="Substantive broader-narrower relationships exist among the terms."/><term thcode="25" code="16" name="hierarchical" parent="11" scope="Substantive broader-narrower relationships exist among the terms."/></category><altlabel><altlabel>CMECS</altlabel><altlabel>CMECS</altlabel><altlabel>Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)</altlabel><altlabel>Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)</altlabel></altlabel></thesaurus><term thcode="62" code="BC-572" name="Vegetated Freshwater Tidal Mudflat" parent="BC-436" scope="Biotic Group: Tidal mudflats in freshwater riverine systems colonized by sparse, emergent, salt-intolerant vegetation."/><bt><term thcode="62" code="BC-436" name="Vegetated Tidal Flats" parent="BC-395" scope="Biotic Subclass: Tidal Flats or Pannes (see GC for definition) colonized by herbaceous vegetation, usually with sparse cover. Cover is not sufficiently dense or raised to constitute a marsh."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-395" name="Emergent Wetland" parent="BC-389" scope="Biotic Class: Areas in this class are characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes?excluding emergent mosses and lichens. ..."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-389" name="Benthic/Attached Biota" parent="BC-C002" scope="Biotic Setting: This biotic setting describes areas where biota lives on, in, or in close association with the seafloor or other substrates (e.g., pilings, buoys), extending down into the sediment to include the sub-surface layers of substrate that contain multi-cellular life. ..."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-C002" name="Biotic" parent="root"/><term thcode="62" code="root" name="CMECS" scope="Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard: Category terms encompassing waters from the head of tide or inland incursion of ocean salinity to the splash zone of the coasts to the deepest portions of the oceans and the deep waters of the Great Lakes."/></bt></descriptor>