To the east of the plot ca. 30m is an open Solidago uliginosa - Carex echinata / Sphagnum - Polytrichum hummock Fen. This woodland/forested swamp community occurs in several patches throughout this wetland complex. The wetland is surrounded by an upland spruce/hardwood forest managed by the Monongahela National Forest. There is a road running just west of the wetland. There's a timber cut which appears on the aerial photo ca. 500m northwest of the plot. There is a small stagnant stream just outside the southern edge of the plot.;Dense spruce forest with a near impenetrable undergrowth of Rhododendron maximum and Kalmia latifolia. Most of the trees and shrubs are growing on hummocks made of a mat of roots covered with a variety of bryophytes, mostly sphagnum. The plot is mostly covered by this moss covered hummocks but is occasionally broken up by mucky lows with Glyceria melicaria. The forest is probably rain water and seepage feed. The overall feel is one of only natural disturbance. Higher on the hummocks, along the older trees; the community is more upland but punch 30cm. down and you can realize you're on an "island" of roots.
Representativeness
Coniferous / Ericad forest swamp. Roughly 4 plots in size. Plot was placed to survey this patch for possible old growth forest.
