Name:
Eriophorum virginicum - (Carex folliculata) / Sphagnum spp. - Polytrichum spp. Fen
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This acidic herbaceous community occurs on temporarily flooded, semipermanently flooded, or saturated peat in the Allegheny Mountains region of West Virginia and Maryland, at elevations between 770 and 1210 m. It is a small-patch type that occupies flat-lying land (0-1° slopes) in headwater basins. Older stands typically occur over shallow bedrock, where they are kept open by high water tables. Younger stands often occur in beaver-influenced wetland mosaics, often behind breached dams on the site of former beaver ponds. The type also occurs as a successional community on formerly forested peatlands that have been logged and/or burned within the last century. Hummock-and-hollow microtopography is moderately well-developed, with hummocks ranging from 10-30 cm in height. Bedrock is typically acidic sandstone and, less commonly, shale or limestone. The substrate is poorly to very poorly drained peat or muck. Peat deposits are shallow, ranging from 10-75 cm in depth, underlain by clay-rich soils or bedrock. Mean soil pH is 3.8. Low cover of stunted trees, shrubs, and snags may occupy hummock tops, typically including <i>Picea rubens, Amelanchier laevis, Rhododendron maximum, Hypericum densiflorum, Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides, Photinia pyrifolia, Photinia melanocarpa, Vaccinium myrtilloides, Kalmia latifolia</i>, and <i>Ilex verticillata</i>. The dwarf-shrub <i>Rubus hispidus</i> has high cover and constancy in this type. The dwarf-shrubs <i>Vaccinium oxycoccos</i> and <i>Vaccinium macrocarpon</i> are often present with low cover. The herbaceous layer is dominated by <i>Eriophorum virginicum, Solidago uliginosa, Carex folliculata</i>, and <i>Juncus effusus</i>. Other common herbaceous species include <i>Juncus brevicaudatus, Osmunda cinnamomea var. cinnamomea, Carex trisperma var. trisperma, Drosera rotundifolia var. rotundifolia, Scirpus cyperinus, Gentiana linearis, Rhynchospora alba, Carex stipata, Agrostis hyemalis</i>, and <i>Agrostis perennans</i>. Nonvascular plants are dominated by <i>Sphagnum</i> spp. (<i>Sphagnum recurvum, Sphagnum magellanicum, Sphagnum fallax</i>, and others) and generally include moderate cover by <i>Polytrichum</i> spp. (<i>Polytrichum commune, Polytrichum strictum</i>). Mean species richness of all vascular plants and any nonvascular plants with cover >1% is 20 taxa per 400 m2 for 39 plots in West Virginia and Maryland.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:35195-{624CE1D0-DE62-4F65-A5EB-3D6AA0DB8B4E}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
62
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