Name:
Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda / Carex (flava, interior, lasiocarpa, sterilis) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance
Reference:
Midwestern Ecology Working Group...
Description:
This alliance is currently found in the upper Midwest of the United States and in Ontario, Canada. Stands are a variable combination of shrubs and herbs on minerotrophically rich mucks, often called fens. The shrub layer is low (0.5-1 m layer) and varies from scattered to dense cover over a dense herbaceous layer. Patterning within large fens may occur, leading to recognizable zones, such as sedge flats, which occur around the spring discharge, fen meadows, which occur in the adjacent saturated zone as a variable combination of shrubs and herbs, and tall-shrub fens, which occur on more elevated portions or edges of the fen. The central fen meadow is described here. The most consistent shrub dominant is Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda (= Pentaphylloides floribunda), but other shrubs include Salix discolor, Physocarpus opulifolius, Rosa palustris, Toxicodendron vernix, and Cornus amomum. Typical herbaceous associates include a variety of sedges that vary across the range of the alliance, including Carex sterilis, Carex flava, Carex interior, Carex lasiocarpa, and Carex stricta. In the Midwest portion of the range, many prairie species may be typically associated, including Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans, Sporobolus heterolepis, Oligoneuron ohioense (= Solidago ohioensis), and others. In the more northeastern portion of the range, northern species such as Alnus serrulata, Drosera rotundifolia, and Photinia melanocarpa (= Aronia melanocarpa) may be present. Dominance by Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda may be because of low fire probability, which historically may have occurred in fire-protected areas, e.g., where poorly vegetated areas with spring runs served as natural firebreaks. Soils are saturated mucks, neutral to alkaline, marly, and with excessive water-retaining capacity.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.23761.DASIPHORAFRUTIC
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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- status: accepted
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This Community's Level:
Alliance
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 This Community's Children:
[none]
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Names:
Scientific: Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda / Carex (flava, interior, lasiocarpa, sterilis) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance
Translated: Shrubby-cinquefoil / (Yellow Sedge, Inland Sedge, Wiregrass Sedge, Sterile Sedge) Saturated Shrub Herbaceous Alliance
UID: HIGHER_CLASS_UNIT.2.125896
NatureServe
Explorer
Code: A.1562
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