Name:
Carex interior - Eleocharis elliptica - Thelypteris palustris Herbaceous Vegetation
Reference:
Midwestern Ecology Working Group...
Description:
This community is found in the Sandhills region of the central Great Plains on level valley bottoms bordering streams, lakes, and marshes. The water table is 15-30 cm below the surface, and these sites remain saturated throughout the year but never become flooded. The soils are deep (0.7-7 m) peat or muck formed from decaying herbaceous vegetation. Surface mounding is characteristic of many sites. The vegetation consists mainly of hydrophytic herbaceous species. Stands are typically dominated by sedges, including Carex interior, Carex lacustris, Carex nebrascensis, Carex prairea, and Carex sartwellii. Other abundant species are Calamagrostis canadensis, Eleocharis elliptica, Glyceria striata, and Thelypteris palustris. In areas of well-preserved fibrous peat, Carex pellita, Carex interior and Carex prairea dominate. Where the peat is more degraded and mucky, Carex lacustris and Carex nebrascensis often dominate, with Carex aquatilis common in some sites. Some parts of the fen may be dominated by taller graminoids, such as Phragmites australis, Schoenoplectus acutus (= Scirpus acutus), and Typha latifolia, with a ground layer of Onoclea sensibilis and Thelypteris palustris. In other parts, shrub cover can be high. Shrub species include Salix petiolaris, Cornus sericea (= Cornus stolonifera), and Salix spp. Many disjunct boreal species are commonly found in the fibrous peat, including Symphyotrichum boreale (= Aster borealis), Doellingeria umbellata var. pubens (= Aster umbellatus var. pubens), Eriophorum angustifolium, Eriophorum gracile, Muhlenbergia glomerata, and Ophioglossum pusillum.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.23854.CAREXINTERIOREL
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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