Print Report
CEGL004167 Cladium mariscoides - Sanguisorba canadensis / Sphagnum subsecundum Herbaceous Seep
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Smooth Sawgrass - Canadian Burnet / Orange Peatmoss Herbaceous Seep
Colloquial Name: Southern Appalachian Ultramafic Seep
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community is dominated by wetland graminoid species, less than 1 m tall, with Sphagnum spp. and other bryophytes predominant beneath the herbaceous stratum. It is found on flat to gently sloping terrain at around 1280 m (4200 feet) elevation and is associated with shallow, organic-rich, mineral soils occurring over mafic bedrock (amphibolite). These soils are kept semipermanently to permanently saturated by mineral-rich, circumneutral waters from upslope seepage areas. This community is known from one site in Ashe County, North Carolina. Similar communities may occur in Virginia and West Virginia. Dominant species vary spatially with the amount of seepage and type of substrate, but typical dominants include Cladium mariscoides, Carex stricta, Carex buxbaumii, Helenium autumnale, Juncus subcaudatus, Muhlenbergia glomerata, Parnassia grandifolia, Rhynchospora alba, Rhynchospora capitellata, Sanguisorba canadensis, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Solidago uliginosa. Ferns (Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Osmunda cinnamomea) may be abundant in some areas and occasional woody shrubs (Alnus serrulata, Kalmia latifolia, Gaylussacia baccata, Vaccinium stamineum) may occur around the margins of this community. Typical mosses include Sphagnum subsecundum, Sphagnum bartlettianum, Rhytidium rugosum, and Campylium stellatum. Other characteristic species include Triantha glutinosa.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This community is naturally rare and only one well-developed example is known. It has a highly distinctive species composition which sets it apart from other Southern Appalachian non-alluvial wetlands. Somewhat similar circumneutral, non-alluvial wetlands occur in the northeastern United States and in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri. These communities differ floristically, exist under different climates and have different geologic origins than the community described here. A floristically similar association, ~Alnus serrulata / Sanguisorba canadensis - Parnassia grandifolia - Helenium brevifolium Seepage Shrubland (CEGL003917)$$, has been defined based on an occurrence in Virginia (TNC-ECS). While this community shares species in common with the one described here, it is dominated by shrub species such as Alnus serrulata, Rosa palustris, and Vaccinium macrocarpon.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This community is dominated by wetland graminoid species, less than 1 m tall, with Sphagnum spp. and other bryophytes predominant beneath the herbaceous stratum. Dominant species vary spatially with the amount of seepage and type of substrate, but typical dominants include Cladium mariscoides, Carex stricta, Carex buxbaumii, Helenium autumnale, Juncus subcaudatus, Muhlenbergia glomerata, Parnassia grandifolia, Rhynchospora alba, Rhynchospora capitellata, Sanguisorba canadensis, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Solidago uliginosa. Ferns (Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Osmunda cinnamomea) may be abundant in some areas, and occasional woody shrubs (Alnus serrulata, Kalmia latifolia, Gaylussacia baccata, Vaccinium stamineum) may occur around the margins of this community. Typical mosses include Sphagnum subsecundum, Sphagnum bartlettianum, Rhytidium rugosum, and Campylium stellatum. Rare plant species reported from this community include Lilium grayi, Parnassia grandifolia, Huperzia appalachiana, and Cladonia dimorphoclada (= Cladonia psoromica) (Schafale and Weakley 1990). Lilium grayi is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains. Cladonia psoromica was considered endemic to Bluff Mountain, the only known occurrence of this community, but that taxon is no longer considered distinct from Cladonia dimorphoclada which has a wider distribution. Species occurring disjunct from their typical northern distributions include Calliergon cordifolium, Calliergonella cuspidata, Campylium stellatum, Carex buxbaumii, Carex conoidea, Muhlenbergia glomerata, Rhytidium rugosum, Sanguisorba canadensis, Solidago uliginosa, Sphagnum subsecundum, and Triantha glutinosa (= Tofieldia glutinosa).
Dynamics: The one known occurrence of this community is thought to be very old (12,000 years B.P.), based on floristics, climate, elevation, and geographic position and shows little or no tendency towards woody encroachment (Weakley and Schafale 1994).
Environmental Description: This community is found on flat to gently sloping terrain at around 1280 m (4200 feet) elevation. Shallow, organic-rich, mineral soils occur over mafic bedrock (amphibolite). These soils are kept semipermanently to permanently saturated by mineral-rich, circumneutral waters from upslope seepage areas.
Geographic Range: This community is known from one site in Ashe County, North Carolina. Similar communities may occur in Virginia and West Virginia.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: NC
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683960
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1
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.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
| Division | 2.C.4.Nd Eastern North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D323 | 2.C.4.Nd |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Nd.1 Shrubby-cinquefoil - Canadian Burnet / Inland Sedge Seep Macrogroup | M061 | 2.C.4.Nd.1 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Nd.1.a Catawba Rosebay / Tawny Cottongrass / Peatmoss species Shrub & Herb Seep Group | G184 | 2.C.4.Nd.1.a |
| Alliance | A3384 Canadian Burnet - Largeleaf Grass-of-Parnassus Seep Alliance | A3384 | 2.C.4.Nd.1.a |
| Association | CEGL004167 Smooth Sawgrass - Canadian Burnet / Orange Peatmoss Herbaceous Seep | CEGL004167 | 2.C.4.Nd.1.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < IIE1b. Calcareous Fen Complex (Allard 1990)
= Mafic Fen (Wichmann et al. 2007)
= Mountaintop Fen (Wichmann 2009)
? Southern Appalachian Fen (Weakley and Schafale 1994)
= Mafic Fen (Wichmann et al. 2007)
= Mountaintop Fen (Wichmann 2009)
? Southern Appalachian Fen (Weakley and Schafale 1994)
- Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.
- Anderson, L. E. 1990a. A checklist of Sphagnum in North America north of Mexico. The Bryologist 93:500-501.
- Anderson, L. E., H. A. Crum, and W. R. Buck. 1990. List of mosses of North America north of Mexico. The Bryologist 93:448-499.
- Egan, R. S. 1987. A fifth checklist of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. The Bryologist 90:77-173.
- NCNHP [North Carolina Natural Heritage Program]. 1993. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program biennial protection plan. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 120 pp.
- Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. No date. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
- Richardson, C. J., and J. W. Gibbons. 1993. Pocosins, Carolina bays, and mountain bogs. Pages 257-310 in: W. H. Martin, S. G. Boyce, and A. C. Echternacht, editors. Biodiversity of the southeastern United States: Lowland terrestrial communities. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
- Schafale, M. P. 2012. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina, 4th Approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.
- Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Tucker, G. E. 1967. The vascular flora of Bluff Mountain, Ashe County, North Carolina. M.S. thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
- Weakley, A. S., and M. P. Schafale. 1994. Non-alluvial wetlands of the Southern Blue Ridge: Diversity in a threatened ecosystem. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 77:359-383.
- Wichmann, B. 2009. Vegetation of geographically isolated montane non-alluvial wetlands of the Southern Blue Ridge of North Carolina. Masters thesis, North Carolina State, Raleigh. [http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05152009-120239/unrestricted/etd.pdf]
- Wichmann, B., R. K. Peet, and T. R. Wentworth. 2007. Natural vegetation of the Carolinas: Classification and description of montane non-alluvial wetlands of the Southern Appalachian region. A report prepared for the Ecosystem Enhancement Program, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in partial fulfillments of contract D07042. Carolina Vegetation Survey, Curriculum in Ecology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.