Name:
Carex cusickii - Carex aquatilis - Myrica gale Alkaline Fen Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This wetland group occurs in peatlands along the Pacific Coast from Alaska south to northern California, in and west of the coastal mountain summits but including the Puget Sound lowlands. This group consists of neutral to alkaline fens (pH base-rich, neutral or alkaline); the extreme end is found often on calcareous substrates, but this is more the exception. Brown mosses such as <i>Campylium, Drepanocladus, Scorpidium, Tomentypnum</i>, and <i>Warnstorfia</i> and sedges (<i>Carex</i>) characterize rich fens (pH >5.5). Some sites may have high cover of minerotrophic non-hummock-forming <i>Sphagnum</i> species. Low shrub or graminoid physiognomy is typical. Groundwater input provides for the high mineral content, and soil saturation in general precludes tall vegetative growth. Shrubs are usually deciduous willows and birch, but evergreen dwarf-shrubs are not uncommon. Indicator species include <i>Betula nana, Carex aquatilis, Carex cusickii, Carex limosa, Carex livida, Carex utriculata, Comarum palustre, Menyanthes trifoliata, Myrica gale</i>, and <i>Spiraea douglasii</i>. Trees may be present at the edges or on raised hummocks where soils are not anoxic and include <i>Callitropsis nootkatensis, Picea sitchensis, Pinus contorta, Thuja plicata</i>, and/or <i>Tsuga heterophylla</i>. Elevations range from under 457 m (1500 feet) to over 2100 m (7000 feet), and annual precipitation ranges from 890-3050 mm (35-120 inches). These wetlands are relatively abundant in Alaska and British Columbia but diminish rapidly in size and number farther south. They occur in river valleys, around lakes and marshes or on slopes. The organic soils can be characterized by an abundance of sodium cations from oceanic precipitation when they reside within the hypermaritime zone.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40048-{22E502C5-F707-4AB6-8028-EC453D5DEC5A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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