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CEGL008542 Carex aquatilis - Dulichium arundinaceum Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Water Sedge - Threeway Sedge Marsh
Colloquial Name: Montane Herbaceous Pond (Water Sedge - Threeway Sedge Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community is known from a single site (Green Pond) at Big Levels in Augusta County, Virginia. Green Pond is a 0.4-hectare (one acre) natural ridge crest depression located at 976 m (3203 feet) elevation on the summit of the Blue Ridge. It is situated where the local, ridge-forming Antietam quartzite has weathered through to the predominantly carbonate Shady Formation. The pond retains shallow water continuously in most years and has a dense substrate of reddish, poorly-decomposed, root-rich peat. The vegetation of Green Pond is a floristically depauperate herbaceous wetland dominated by Carex aquatilis and, to a lesser extent, by Dulichium arundinaceum. The only other species occurring here are Vaccinium macrocarpon, Juncus canadensis, Triadenum virginicum, a few seedlings of Cephalanthus occidentalis, and an unidentified Utricularia sp.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Green Pond is the only known Virginia site for Carex aquatilis, which is disjunct by nearly 400 km from the nearest known station in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Wieboldt et al. 1998). This sedge is a circumboreal species typically associated with calcareous or non-acidic wetlands. Its occurrence at Green Pond may be related to the local exposure of the Shady Formation, although the other species present are all pronounced acidophiles. This association may only be a variant of the more widespread, though still rare, Central Appalachian depression wetland ~(Cephalanthus occidentalis) / Dulichium arundinaceum - (Polygonum hydropiperoides, Glyceria acutiflora, Proserpinaca palustris) Marsh (CEGL003746)$$. However, it differs markedly in the dominance of Carex aquatilis and lacks most of the other diagnostic species of CEGL003746.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The vegetation of Green Pond is a floristically depauperate herbaceous wetland dominated by Carex aquatilis and, to a lesser extent, by Dulichium arundinaceum. The only other species occurring here are Vaccinium macrocarpon, Juncus canadensis, Triadenum virginicum, a few seedlings of Cephalanthus occidentalis, and an unidentified Utricularia sp.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Green Pond is a 0.4-hectare (one acre) natural ridge crest depression located at 976 m (3203 feet) elevation on the summit of the Blue Ridge. It is situated where the local, ridge-forming Antietam quartzite has weathered through to the predominantly carbonate Shady Formation (Werner 1966). The pond retains shallow water continuously in most years and has a dense substrate of reddish, poorly-decomposed, root-rich peat.
Geographic Range: This community is known from a single site (Green Pond) at Big Levels in Augusta County, Virginia.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687830
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.2 Broadleaf Cattail - White Snakeroot - Rush species Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup | M069 | 2.C.4.Nd.2 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d Appalachian-Northeast Wet Meadow & Shrub Swamp Group | G903 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
| Alliance | A4680 <i>Dulichium arundinaceum - Polygonum hydropiperoides - Carex</i> spp. Sinkhole Marsh Alliance | A4680 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
| Association | CEGL008542 Water Sedge - Threeway Sedge Marsh | CEGL008542 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Carex aquatilis - Dulichium arundinaceum Herbaceous Vegetation (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- 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/]
- Fleming, G. P., and K. D. Patterson. 2009b. Classification of selected Virginia montane wetland groups. In-house analysis, December 2009. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
- Fleming, G. P., and P. P. Coulling. 2001. Ecological communities of the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Preliminary classification and description of vegetation types. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. 317 pp.
- Werner, H. J. 1966. Geology of the Vesuvius quadrangle, Virginia. Report of Investigation No. 7, Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Charlottesville.
- Wieboldt, T. F., G. P. Fleming, J. C. Ludwig, and F. C. Huber. 1998. Noteworthy collections: Virginia. Castanea 63:82-91.