Print Report
CEGL003419 Myrica gale / Sanguisorba officinalis / Sphagnum spp. Fen
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sweetgale / Great Burnet / Peatmoss species Fen
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association occurs in low-elevation peatlands on the coastal plain of the western Olympic Peninsula of Washington. It occurs only in nutrient-poor portions of stream-associated fens (sometimes called bogs) that are seasonally flooded in the winter with minerotrophic water (limnogenous peatlands, i.e., peatlands along a flowing water system). The soils are composed of sphagnum, fibrous, and heath peat and are wet year-round. The deciduous broad-leaved Myrica gale dominates the open to closed shrub layer (15-90% cover and varying from 0.3 to 2 m tall). The forb Sanguisorba officinalis is always present and typically codominates the herbaceous layer. One of the graminoids Carex utriculata, Carex aquatilis var. dives, or Deschampsia cespitosa are typically also codominant, and the former two species are usually present. Sphagnum spp. dominate the moss layer with at least 10% cover, usually more. The combination of dominant Myrica gale in the shrub layer, abundant Sphagnum, and the presence of Sanguisorba officinalis distinguishes the association.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This type has been described from plot data in Washington. It is separated from similar associations by the abundance of Sphagnum, other than that it is very similar to the Washington version of ~Myrica gale / Carex (aquatilis var. dives, utriculata) Fen (CEGL003376)$$. British Columbia reports that they do not typically see this combination, but have Myrica with Carices or with Sphagnum, but not with both and with Sanguisorba.
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: This association occurs in low-elevation peatlands on the coastal plain of the western Olympic Peninsula of Washington. It occurs only in nutrient-poor portions of stream-associated fens (sometimes called bogs) that are seasonally flooded in the winter with minerotrophic water (limnogenous peatlands, i.e., peatlands along a flowing water system) (Damman 1986). The soils are composed of sphagnum, fibrous, and heath peat and are wet year-round.
Geographic Range: This type is found mostly in western Grays Harbor County, Washington, and occurs less frequently to the north of that.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: WA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687156
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.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 | CEGL003419 Sweetgale / Great Burnet / Peatmoss species Fen | CEGL003419 | 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: = Myrica gale / Sanguisorba officinalis / Sphagnum spp. Community Type (Kunze 1994)
- Damman, A. W. H. 1986. Hydrology, development, and biogeochemistry of ombrogenous peat bogs with special reference to nutrient relocation in a western Newfoundland bog. Canadian Journal of Botany 64:384-394.
- 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.
- 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.