Print Report

CEGL003416 Spiraea douglasii / Sphagnum spp. Fen

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Rose Spirea / Peatmoss species Fen

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association occurs on lake-fill mats and kettle-hole depressions in the northern Willamette Valley of Oregon, the Puget Lowlands of Washington, and southwestern British Columbia. The peat is perennially saturated and floating mats may rise and fall with seasonally fluctuating lake levels. The tree layer is sparse or absent and limited to stunted Fraxinus latifolia or Populus tremuloides. The shrub layer is dominated by Spiraea douglasii 0.6-1.2 m (3-4 feet) tall. The herb layer is variable, typically with Carex spp., Nuphar polysepala, Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis, Menyanthes trifoliata, or Dulichium arundinaceum. The moss layer is dominated by a saturated lawn of Sphagnum with up to 95% cover beneath the shrubs. Well-developed hummocks of Sphagnum may be present, creating small ombrotrophic inclusions in otherwise minerotrophic mire.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: There are no plot data that we know of from British Columbia, where many known stands occur. There is potential confusion between natural, undisturbed stands with relatively short Spiraea and stands of tall Spiraea, symptomatic of altered hydrology and eutrophication from upland development. Comments herein refer only to natural, undisturbed stands.

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

Floristics: The tree layer is sparse or absent and limited to stunted Fraxinus latifolia or Populus tremuloides. The shrub layer is dominated by Spiraea douglasii 0.6-1.2 m (3-4 feet) tall. The herb layer is variable, typically with Carex spp., Nuphar polysepala (= Nuphar lutea ssp. polysepala), Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis (= Juncus balticus), Menyanthes trifoliata, or Dulichium arundinaceum. The moss layer is dominated by a saturated lawn of Sphagnum with up to 95% cover beneath the shrubs. Well-developed hummocks of Sphagnum may be present, creating small ombrotrophic inclusions in otherwise minerotrophic mire.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This association occurs on lake-fill mats and kettle-hole depressions in the northern Willamette Valley of Oregon, the Puget Lowlands of Washington, and southwestern British Columbia. The peat is perennially saturated and floating mats may rise and fall with seasonally fluctuating lake levels.
Geographic Range: This association extends from southwestern British Columbia through the Puget Lowlands of Washington to the extreme northern Willamette Valley of Oregon.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  BC, OR, WA


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3

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.3 Beach Pine / Bog Labrador-tea / Cusick''s Sedge North Pacific Bog & Fen Macrogroup M063 2.C.2.Na.3
Group 2.C.2.Na.3.b North Pacific Acidic Open Bog & Fen Group G284 2.C.2.Na.3.b
Alliance A3585 Sweetgale - Rose Spirea - Dwarf Bilberry Shrub Fen Alliance A3585 2.C.2.Na.3.b
Association CEGL003416 Rose Spirea / Peatmoss species Fen CEGL003416 2.C.2.Na.3.b
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Spiraea douglasii / Sphagnum (McCain and Christy 2005) [7 plots]
= Spiraea douglasii / Sphagnum Association (Christy 2004)
= Spiraea douglasii / Sphagnum spp. community type (Kunze 1994) [(p.18) is from the northern Puget Trough and is somewhat similar, but it differs in soils and hydrology and does not seem related to peatlands. Her Spiraea douglasii association is also similar in that it occurs in laggs, but it contains no Sphagnum.]
Concept Author(s): L.M. Kunze (1994)

Author of Description: J.A. Christy

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 10-21-02
  • Christy, J. A. 2001a. Low-elevation Sphagnum wetlands in western Oregon. Report to Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10. Oregon Natural Heritage Program, Portland. 90 pp.
  • Christy, J. A. 2004. Native freshwater wetland plant associations of northwestern Oregon. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University, Portland, OR.
  • Kagan, J. S., J. A. Christy, M. P. Murray, and J. A. Titus. 2004. Classification of native vegetation of Oregon. January 2004. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Portland. 52 pp.
  • Kunze, L. M. 1994. Preliminary classification of native, low elevation, freshwater wetland vegetation in western Washington. Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program. 120 pp.
  • McCain, C., and J. A. Christy. 2005. Field guide to riparian plant communities in northwestern Oregon. Technical Paper R6-NR-ECOL-TP-01-05. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Portland. 357 pp.
  • Titus, J. H., J. A. Christy, D. Vander Schaaf, J. S. Kagan, and E. R. Alverson. 1996. Native wetland, riparian, and upland plant communities and their biota in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Report to the Environmental Protection Agency, Region X, Seattle, WA. Willamette Basin Geographic Initiative. Oregon Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy, Portland, OR.
  • WNHP [Washington Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data files. Washington Natural Heritage Program, Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA.
  • Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.