Original Data Location  |
NJ Natural Heritage Program, NJDEP Division of Parks and Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, 22 S. Clinton Ave, Plaza Bldg 4, Fl. 4, PO Box 404 Trenton, NJ, 08625-0404
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| Landscape Narrative |
Landscape Description: This is a rich, diverse, calcareous fen in the headwaters of Bear Brook in the vicinity of Francis Lake, surrounded by successional forest (south and west) and farmland (N and E). A farm road crosses the E end of the fen which has likely altered the W-flowing surface hydrology but not the groundwater discharge from the S (springs that flow into the fen, are present at the base of the slope, in edge of cedars). A surface streamlet that flows into Bear Brook runs along the N side of the fen.
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| Observation Narrative |
General Description: The fen is dominated by dwarf shrubs on Sphagnum tussocks with peat and marl seepage channels running in the hollows. Short trees and shrubs are scattered throughout, with more concentrated near the edges. Woody edge of fen with cedar and posion sumac that go all the way around the lake and wetlands.
Community Description: Northern edge of fen adjacent to wet woods with intermittent streams. The area is shrubby with a lot of scattered Juniperus and a Toxicodendron vernix zone that encircles the whole fen (with more Juniperus on the south side). Associated tree and shrub species include Juniperus virginiana, Toxicodendron vernix, Cornus stolonifera, Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Rhamnus alnifolia, Ribes hirtellum, Salix candida, Salix serissima, Salix bebbiana, and Salix eriocephala. Associated herbaceous species include Sarracenia purpurea, Parnassia glauca, Gentiana crinita, Menyanthes trifoliata, Lobelia kalmii, Pycnanthemum virginiana, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Solidago uliginosa, Deschampsia caespitosa, Muhlenbergia glomerata, Carex lurida, Carex sterilis, Carex interior, Carex debilis, Juncus nodosus, Juncus brachycephalus, Rhynchospora capillacea, Schoenoplectus acutus, Thelypterus palustris, Drosera rotundifolia, Sanguisorba canadensis, Cirsium muticum, Typha latifolia, Aster novi-belgii, Aster novae-angliae, Iris versicolor, Vernonia novaboracensis. Non-vascular species include Selaginella apoda, Drepanocladus revolvens, Aulocomnium palustre, Tomenthypnum nitens, Sphagnum warnstorfii and Sphagnum teres.
Additional species present but not in plot: Lobelia ciliatus, Rhynchospora capillacea, Muhlenbergia glomerata
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