Name:
NY Heritage: Medium fen
Reference:
Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description:
A moderately minerotrophic peatland (intermediate between rich fens and poor fens) in which the substrate is a mixed peat composed of graminoids, mosses, and woody species. Medium fens are fed by waters that are moderately mineralized, with pH values generally ranging from 4.5 to 6.5. Medium fens often occur as a narrow transition zone between an aquatic community and either a swamp or an upland community along the edges of streams and lakes.
In medium fens, the herbaceous layer, dominated by the sedge Carex lasiocarpa typically forms a canopy that overtops the shrub layer. The physiognomy of medium fens may range from a dwarf shrubland to a perennial grassland, and be either shrub-dominated, herb dominanted or have roughly equal amounts of shrubs and herbs.
The dominant species in medium fens are usually the sedge Carex lasiocarpa and sweet-gale (Myrica gale). Other characteristic shrubs include leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), and young red maple (Acer rubrum). Other shrubs found in medium fens include black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), bog willow (Salix pedicellaris), meadow-sweet (Spiraea alba var. latifolia), hardhack (Spiraea tomentosa), and swamp rose (Rosa palustris).
Other characteristic herbs include marsh St. John's wort (Triadenum virginicum), pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea), milfoil bladderwort (Utricularia intermedia), sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), white beakrush (Rhynchospora alba), marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris), arrowleaf (Peltandra virginica), rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides), swamp goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa), royal fern (Osmunda regalis), three-way sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum), buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), common cat-tail (Typha latifolia), and sundew (Drosera intermedia). Other herbs found in medium fens include blue flag (Iris versicolor), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), twig-rush (Cladium mariscoides), the sedges Carex rostrata, C. leptalea, C. stricta, C. limosa, and C. interior, tufted loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora), and narrow-leaf cat-tail (Typha angustifolia).
Characteristic non-vascular plants include the moss Calliergonella cuspidata. Other non-vascular plants found in medium fens include the mosses Campylium stellatum, Calliergon giganteum, Aulacomnium palustre, Sphagnum magellanicum, S. contortum, S. subsecundum, and the liverwort Aneura pinguis.
A rare moth of some medium fens is bog buckmoth (Hemileuca sp.), which feeds on buckbean. A rare turtle of some medium fens is bog turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii). Data on characteristic animals are needed.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28527.NYHERITAGEMEDIU
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
6
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