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CEGL005229 Carex lasiocarpa - (Carex rostrata) - Equisetum fluviatile Fen

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Woolly-fruit Sedge - (Beaked Sedge) - Water Horsetail Fen

Colloquial Name: Woolly-fruit Sedge Shore Fen

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community is found typically on floating (or occasionally grounded) mats on the edges of lakes and streams in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. Lakes and streams have low wave and current energy and seasonally flood the mat. Permanent surface pools and small hummocks with Sphagnum spp. and ericaceous shrubs may be present. The substrate is a mat of fibric to mesic peat held together by roots and rhizomes. Graminoids dominate the stand, with shrub cover typically much less than 25%. Myrica gale can be among the more common shrubs. The graminoid Carex lasiocarpa can form extensive "lawns." Other herbaceous species present include Carex rostrata, Eleocharis elliptica, Equisetum fluviatile, Comarum palustre, Rhynchospora alba, Triadenum fraseri, Utricularia intermedia, and Utricularia minor. Menyanthes trifoliata can occur at high cover, especially at the outer edge of the floating mat.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This type is wetter than low shrub shore fen, ~Chamaedaphne calyculata - Myrica gale / Carex lasiocarpa Fen (CEGL005228)$$, and has structural similarities to bluejoint meadows, but the mat tends to float and the surface is less frequently flooded (Harris et al. 1996). Shore fens may also resemble Narrow-leaf Sedge Organic meadow marshes in Ontario and the concept of shore fen has not been standardized across the province yet (W. Bakowsky pers. comm. 1999). In the Great Lakes shore fens, a more nutrient-rich type has been described separately, ~Calamagrostis canadensis - Carex viridula - Cladium mariscoides - Lobelia kalmii Fen (CEGL005115)$$.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: Graminoids dominate the stand, with shrub cover typically much less than 25%. Myrica gale can be among the more common shrubs. The graminoid Carex lasiocarpa can form extensive "lawns." Other herbaceous species present include Carex rostrata, Eleocharis elliptica, Equisetum fluviatile, Comarum palustre (= Potentilla palustris), Rhynchospora alba, Triadenum fraseri, Utricularia intermedia, and Utricularia minor. Menyanthes trifoliata can occur at high cover, especially at the outer edge of the floating mat (Harris et al. 1996).

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This community is found typically on floating (or occasionally grounded) mats on the edges of lakes and streams. Lakes and streams have low wave and current energy and seasonally flood the mat. Permanent surface pools and small hummocks with Sphagnum spp. and ericaceous shrubs may be present. The substrate is a mat of fibric to mesic peat held together by roots and rhizomes.
Geographic Range: This community is found typically on floating (or occasionally grounded) mats on the edges of lakes and streams in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. It ranges from northern Minnesota and adjacent Ontario eastward to localized areas of Michigan and New York. In New York, one site (Deer Creek) is known along the shores of eastern Lake Ontario.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  MI, NY, ON, PA?, QC?, WI


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class C02 2
Subclass 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass S44 2.C
Formation 2.C.2 Temperate to Polar Bog & Fen Formation F016 2.C.2
Division 2.C.2.Na North American Bog & Fen Division D029 2.C.2.Na
Macrogroup 2.C.2.Na.2 Shrubby cinquefoil - Woolly-fruit Sedge / Star Campylium Moss Alkaline Fen Macrogroup M877 2.C.2.Na.2
Group 2.C.2.Na.2.e Shrubby-cinquefoil - Woolly-fruit Sedge Eastern Boreal Alkaline Fen Group G804 2.C.2.Na.2.e
Alliance A4400 Smooth Sawgrass - Needle Beaksedge - <i>Solidago ohioensis</i> Shore Fen Alliance A4400 2.C.2.Na.2.e
Association CEGL005229 Woolly-fruit Sedge - (Beaked Sedge) - Water Horsetail Fen CEGL005229 2.C.2.Na.2.e
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Carex lasiocarpa - (Carex rostrata) - Equisetum fluviatile Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001) [Shore Fen Graminoid Subtype]
Concept Author(s): D. Faber-Langendoen (2001)

Author of Description: D. Faber-Langendoen

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 08-06-98
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