Salt Marsh in San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge

A succulent and grass-dominated salt marsh ecosystem in San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge (Texas). The succulent plants in the foreground of this photo are indicative of dry and hypersaline conditions. However, the high water levels shown in the photo are abnormal and due to very heavy rainfalls from Tropical Storm Imelda (September 2019; one of the wettest tropical cyclones on record in the USA). The photo was taken about two weeks after Imelda’s passage. Two years ago, this marsh was also inundated by very heavy rains associated with Hurricane Harvey (2017).