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Carex (flava, hystericina, interior, sterilis) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance | Eastern Ecology Working Group of...
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Name: Carex (flava, hystericina, interior, sterilis) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance Reference: Eastern Ecology Working Group of... Description: This alliance brings together a suite of spring-fed herbaceous vegetation occurring on shallow peat and irrigated by base-rich surface discharge or groundwater. The vegetation has a consistent set of characteristic species but a locally variable set of associates, many of which are uncommon within the region. Occurrences are generally small, local and restricted to a rather particular set of conditions. The prominent architectural elements of this alliance include a well-developed herbaceous layer dominated by short cespitose sedges, a ground layer of bulky "brown" mosses, and clumped or scattered shrubs (generally restricted to micro-hummocks). Typically there is no clear dominant species allowing for a highly variable compositional and structural aspect from occurrence to occurrence. Under undisturbed conditions the relative proportion of shrubs to herbs appears to reflect the hydrologic regime with shrubs becoming abundant in drier examples (or in drier, slightly raised, areas within a single example. In many examples the open herbaceous character of the vegetation appears to be maintained by grazing or burning which limits much of the shrub layer.Some form of shrub component is almost always present, even in very graminoid appearing examples, although colonization may be restricted to small raised hummocks (a few centimeters is adequate). The cespitose, short shrub Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda (= Pentaphylloides floribunda) is perhaps the most characteristic species of the alliance although it is rarely present in the northern Appalachian examples. The ecology of this species is not well understood. In the western U.S. it occurs in dry mountainous soils and calcareous outcrops while in the east it is more or less restricted to wet springy places. It does not thrive in extremely wet soils (Jeglum 1971). Some managers have suggested that it may be a key species in providing bog turtle habitat while others have attempted to eradicate it from sites where it is believed to shade-out orchid populations. Rhamnus alnifolia is another characteristic and much more spreading short shrub, which may be quite extensive in some examples. Additionally tall branching shrubs such as Cornus sericea, Salix discolor, Salix bebbiana, Salix candida, Salix lucida, Salix serissima, and others are very typical and often form a fringe around the lower slope of the fen. With alterations in local hydrology or grazing regime it is likely that many examples will succeed to shrub thickets dominated by these species. This alliance includes mineral soil or shallow peat seepage communities influenced by calcareous water and generally dominated by cespitose sedges, herbaceous species with scattered shrubs.  Accession Code: VB.CC.20139.CAREXFLAVAHYSTE Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 01-May-2019
	status: accepted This Community's Level: Alliance This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Scientific: Carex (flava, hystericina, interior, sterilis) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance   Translated: (Yellow Sedge, Porcupine Sedge, Inland Sedge, Sterile Sedge) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance   UID: HIGHER_CLASS_UNIT.2.126382 NatureServe Explorer   Code: A.1561