Print Report

CEGL006310 Cladium mariscoides - Drosera intermedia - Eleocharis rostellata Coastal Fen

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Smooth Sawgrass - Spoonleaf Sundew - Beaked Spikerush Coastal Fen

Colloquial Name: Atlantic Sea Level Fen

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association comprises "sea-level fens" of the central and north Atlantic Coast. These are small-patch communities occurring at the edge of salt marshes adjacent to sandy or gravelly slopes where there is acidic, oligotrophic groundwater seepage. Although its association with salt marshes is diagnostic, it is only infrequently influenced by salt or brackish overwash during unusually high tides. The physiognomy is dominated by herbs, occasionally with some scattered shrubs or short trees. The diagnostic species include Cladium mariscoides, Rhynchospora alba, Eleocharis rostellata, Drosera intermedia, and Schoenoplectus pungens. Other associated species may include Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, Carex exilis, Carex hormathodes, Carex leptalea, Eleocharis fallax, Juncus canadensis, Juncus pelocarpus, Lysimachia terrestris, Rosa palustris, Vaccinium macrocarpon, Sanguisorba canadensis, Teucrium canadense, and Schoenoplectus americanus and Eriocaulon decangulare in the southern portion of the association range. Woody species occurring at low cover may include Morella pensylvanica, Baccharis halimifolia, Juniperus virginiana, Iva frutescens, and in the southern portion of the range, Morella cerifera. Substrate is sedgy peat over sand or gravel.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: No Data Available

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

Floristics: This fen vegetation has a very diverse species composition of estuarine and palustrine species. Eleocharis rostellata, Cladium mariscoides, Carex hormathodes, Drosera intermedia, and Eriocaulon decangulare (the latter in the southern portion of the range) are often dominant. Common associates include Carex exilis, Carex leptalea, Eleocharis fallax, Iris prismatica, Juncus pelocarpus, Juncus canadensis, Lysimachia terrestris, Rhynchospora alba, Rosa palustris, Schoenoplectus pungens, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii (= Aster novi-belgii), Triadenum virginicum, Toxicodendron radicans. and others. Many species of acidic fens can occur in this community, and, as it has rather specific environmental parameters, several rare species occur in this habitat.

Dynamics:  This association occurs at the interface of salt marsh and groundwater seepage from the adjacent upland.
Environmental Description:  Sea level fens occur at the edge of salt marshes adjacent to sandy or gravelly slopes where there is acidic, oligotrophic groundwater seepage. These fens are situated just above high tide levels and receive infrequent saline or brackish overwash only during unusually high tides. Substrate is sedgy peat over sand or gravel.
Geographic Range: This type occurs from Virginia to Massachusetts, and possibly New Hampshire.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  CT, DE, MA?, MD, NH?, NJ, NY, RI?, VA


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.1 Leatherleaf - Small Cranberry - Few-seed Sedge Bog & Acidic Fen Macrogroup M876 2.C.2.Na.1
Group 2.C.2.Na.1.e Chamaedaphne - Dwarf Huckleberry / Walter''s Sedge Bog & Fen Group G1171 2.C.2.Na.1.e
Alliance A4481 <i>Cladium mariscoides - Drosera intermedia</i> Coastal Fen A4481 2.C.2.Na.1.e
Association CEGL006310 Smooth Sawgrass - Spoonleaf Sundew - Beaked Spikerush Coastal Fen CEGL006310 2.C.2.Na.1.e
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Cladium mariscoides - Drosera intermedia - Eleocharis rostellata Herbaceous Vegetation (Strakosch Walz et al. 2007)
= Cladium mariscoides - Drosera intermedia - Eleocharis rostellata community (Metzler and Barrett 2006)
? Myrica cerifera / Eriocaulon decangulare - Eleocharis rostellata Sparse Shrubland (Grossman et al. 1994)
= Sea-Level Fen (Ludwig 1995)
Concept Author(s): C. Ludwig (1995)

Author of Description: C. Ludwig and S.L. Neid

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 05-10-02
  • Berdine, M. A. 1998. Maryland vegetation classification. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD.
  • Breden, T. F., Y. R. Alger, K. S. Walz, and A. G. Windisch. 2001. Classification of vegetation communities of New Jersey: Second iteration. Association for Biodiversity Information and New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton.
  • Coxe, R. 2009. Guide to Delaware vegetation communities. Spring 2009 edition. State of Delaware, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Smyrna.
  • Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
  • Edinger, G. J., D. J. Evans, S. Gebauer, T. G. Howard, D. M. Hunt, and A. M. Olivero, editors. 2014a. Ecological communities of New York state. Second edition. A revised and expanded edition of Carol Reschke''s ecological communities of New York state. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
  • Fleming, G. P. 2001a. Community types of Coastal Plain calcareous ravines in Virginia. Preliminary analysis and classification. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. 4 pp.
  • Fleming, G. P., K. D. Patterson, and K. Taverna. 2017. The natural communities of Virginia: A classification of ecological community groups and community types. Third approximation. Version 3.0. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. [http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/]
  • Grossman, D. H., K. Lemon Goodin, and C. L. Reuss, editors. 1994. Rare plant communities of the conterminous United States: An initial survey. The Nature Conservancy. Arlington, VA. 620 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W. 2011. The natural communities of Maryland: 2011 working list of ecological community groups and community types. Unpublished report. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, Natural Heritage Program, Annapolis. 33 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W., and P. Stango, III. 2003. Shrubland tidal wetland communities of Maryland''s Eastern Shore: Identification, assessment and monitoring. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 118 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W., compiler. 2004. Classification of vegetation communities of Maryland: First iteration. A subset of the International Classification of Ecological Communities: Terrestrial Vegetation of the United States, NatureServe. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 243 pp.
  • Ludwig, C. J. 1995. An overview of sea-level fens. Unpublished report of November 30, 1995. Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. 4 pp.
  • Metzler, K., and J. Barrett. 2006. The vegetation of Connecticut: A preliminary classification. State Geological and Natural History Survey, Report of Investigations No. 12. Connecticut Natural Diversity Database, Hartford, CT.
  • NatureServe. 2009. Vegetation of the E.B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. International Ecological Classification Standard: Terrestrial Ecological Classifications. NatureServe Central Databases. Arlington, VA. U.S.A. Data current as of 1 December 2009.
  • Reschke, C. 1990. Ecological communities of New York State. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Latham, NY. 96 pp.
  • Strakosch Walz, K., L. Kelly, K. Anderson, and S. J. Stanford. 2007. The sea level fens, tidal freshwater marshes and tidal brackish marshes of New Jersey. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks and Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, Natural Heritage Program, Trenton, NJ. 189 pp.
  • Swain, P. C., and J. B. Kearsley. 2014. Classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts. Version 2.0. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Westborough, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/nhesp/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/natural-communities/classification-of-natural-communities.html]