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Picea engelmannii / Carex angustata Swamp Forest | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Picea engelmannii / Carex angustata Swamp Forest
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This association is abundant on the flanks of the Cascades in the East Cascades ecoregion of Oregon. Landforms supporting this association occur at moderate to moderately high elevations on flat, wet floodplains and the margins of lakes, marshes, bogs, and forested basins. Microtopography is flat to slightly undulating. The association is replaced by ~<i>Pinus contorta / Carex (aquatilis, angustata)</i> Swamp Woodland (CEGL000140)$$ below the elevational and cold air limits of <i>Picea engelmannii</i>. Sample stands are located at Sevenmile and Cherry creeks on the Winema National Forest and Soda Creek, Lava Lake, and Squaw Creek Marsh on the Deschutes National Forest. Soils are variable. On floodplains and the margins of lakes the surface horizons are sandy loams or organic loams developed from pumice, andesite, or basalt alluvium. On the edges of bogs and in wet forest basins the surface texture is organic loam or sedge peat more typical of marsh soils. Available water-holding capacity is moderate to high. Maximum water tables are near or slightly flood the soil surface, except on tree hummocks. The water table is within 60 cm of the soil surface in September. Soils are moist through the summer. The local climate for this association is much wetter (more annual precipitation and more annual snowfall), has a longer frost-free period, and has more moderate temperature extremes than CEGL000140. <i>Picea engelmannii</i> dominates other conifers. <i>Pinus contorta</i> dominates seral stands. <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> is a minor dominant at higher elevations. The ground cover is a dense sward of <i>Carex angustata</i>. Occasionally, <i>Carex disperma</i> is dominant on the dry edge of the association. Where the association is grading into bogs and marshes, conifers are somewhat stunted and scattered <i>Carex utriculata</i> may be codominant with <i>Carex angustata</i>. One plot at the upper elevation limits of the association had <i>Carex scopulorum</i> codominant with <i>Carex angustata</i>. <i>Glyceria striata, Calamagrostis canadensis</i>, and <i>Calamagrostis stricta</i> are often present but are low in cover. The forb layer includes wet-site species such as <i>Equisetum arvense, Senecio triangularis, Platanthera dilatata</i>, and <i>Ranunculus uncinatus</i>. Mesic forbs characteristic of ~<i>Picea engelmannii / Clintonia uniflora</i> Forest (CEGL000360)$$ such as <i>Clintonia uniflora, Galium triflorum, Fragaria virginiana, Pyrola minor</i>, and <i>Viola</i> spp. occur on drier microsites and hummocks. Burned stands regenerate to <i>Pinus contorta</i>. The herbaceous composition will remain unchanged. Burned stands may experience a temporary elevation of the water table and an increase in the cover of <i>Carex</i> spp. and <i>Salix</i> spp. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:29268-{CB2E5D7D-6870-4844-B116-B0FE11B82416}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 05-Jul-2018 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.685568 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: CEGL000359
  Translated: Engelmann Spruce / Widefruit Sedge Swamp Forest
  Scientific: Picea engelmannii / Carex angustata Swamp Forest
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(similar) CEGL000359
(similar) Picea engelmannii / Carex angustata Forest
(similar) Picea engelmannii / Carex angustata Forest