Print Report
CEGL003338 Rhynchospora alba - (Vaccinium oxycoccos) / Sphagnum tenellum Fen
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: White Beaksedge - (Small Cranberry) / Delicate Peatmoss Fen
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community type commonly occurs throughout the northern Puget Trough lowlands of Washington. It is typically found in a wide band along the quaking margin of a sphagnum mat, near open water or just inland of a Carex cusickii bog community type. Small pockets of this type can also be found in wet depressions in firmer, drier portions of sphagnum bogs. The substrate is sphagnum peat. Soils are saturated year-round. The vegetation in this community is low-growing and dominated by Rhynchospora alba and Sphagnum spp. Vaccinium oxycoccos is often abundant to codominant. Abundance of other plant species is variable. Shrub species, when found, have a short growth form. Reindeer lichen, Cladina rangiferina, often occurs on drier microsites within this community type. Additional taxa may include Carex leptalea, Carex pauciflora, Carex rostrata, Eriophorum chamissonis, Ledum groenlandicum, Lycopus uniflorus, and Lysichiton americanus. The vegetation in this zone is often highly trampled by wildlife and in some cases by humans.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This community type was described by Fitzgerald (1966, 1977) and Lebednik and del Moral (1976). Osvald (1933) described wet depressions dominated by Rhynchospora alba. Osvald''s Vaccinium oxycoccos-Sphagnum-sociation may fit within this community type as well. Hebda and Biggs (1981) noted it as occurring in wet microsites within the wet sphagnum subtype of their heathland vegetation type. Vitt and Slack (1975) described Rhynchospora alba''s distribution relative to moisture and shade. Slater and Agnew (1977) observed increased cover of Rhynchospora alba with trampling.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: No Data Available
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: No Data Available
Geographic Range: No Data Available
Nations: CA?,US
States/Provinces: BC?, WA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.686113
Confidence Level: Low
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 | A3584 Water Sedge - Peatmoss species - Beaksedge species Acidic Fen Alliance | A3584 | 2.C.2.Na.3.b |
| Association | CEGL003338 White Beaksedge - (Small Cranberry) / Delicate Peatmoss Fen | CEGL003338 | 2.C.2.Na.3.b |
Concept Lineage: Upgraded to Standard during screening.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Rhynchospora alba / Sphagnum spp. community type (Kunze 1994)
- Fitzgerald, B. J. 1966. The microenvironment in a Pacific Northwest bog and its implications for establishment of conifer seedlings. Master of Science thesis, University of Washington, Seattle. 164 pp.
- Fitzgerald, B. J. 1977. Kings Lake Bog: A description of its vegetation and microenvironments. University of Washington Arboretum Bulletin 40(3):14-22.
- Hebda, R. J., and W. G. Biggs. 1981. The vegetation of Burns Bog, Fraser Delta, southwestern British Columbia. Syesis 14:1-20.
- 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.
- Lebednik, G. K., and R. del Moral. 1976. Vegetation surrounding Kings Lake Bog, Washington. Madrono 23:386-400.
- Osvald, H. 1933. Vegetation of the Pacific coast bogs of North America. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 5:1-33.
- Slater, F. M., and A. D. Q. Agnew. 1977. Observations on a peat bog''s ability to withstand increasing public pressure. Biological Conservation 11:21-27.
- Vitt, D. H., and N. G. Slack. 1975. An analysis of the vegetation of Sphagnum-dominated kettle-hole bogs in relation to environmental gradients. Canadian Journal of Botany 53:332-359.
- 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.