Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This community has a herbaceous physiognomy with less than 1% cover of woody species in high-quality stands. Graminoid-dominated herb cover is generally dense (up to 100%) and relatively diverse, averaging 36 taxa per 100 m2 in four plot samples. Patch-dominant species include Carex tetanica, Carex prairea, Carex emoryi, Carex trichocarpa, Eleocharis erythropoda, Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis (= Juncus balticus var. littoralis), Juncus dudleyi, Packera aurea (= Senecio aureus), and Symphyotrichum puniceum var. puniceum (= Aster puniceus var. puniceus). Characteristic low-cover species include Lysimachia quadriflora, Lythrum alatum var. alatum, Filipendula rubra, Carex buxbaumii, Equisetum arvense, Pycnanthemum virginianum, Carex interior, Carex suberecta, Hierochloe odorata (= ssp. odorata), Vernonia noveboracensis, Verbena hastata, Cardamine bulbosa, Viola cucullata, Lathyrus palustris, Pedicularis lanceolata, and Oxypolis rigidior. In the absence of active disturbance regimes, stands of this community are susceptible to invasion by woody swamp plants, including Acer rubrum, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Rosa palustris, as well as by exotics such as Elaeagnus umbellata. This community contains the southernmost occurrence of Carex prairea.

Dynamics:  It is thought that presettlement examples of this community type were maintained in open condition by periodic burning and grazing by megaherbivores. The persistence of a few small patches of the type may represent artifacts of human disturbance regimes such as light cattle grazing and, at two sites, fires ignited from an adjacent railroad track. In recent years, colonies of Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis have been expanding dramatically at two sites, and this species may represent a localized patch-dominant that becomes more abundant in the absence of natural disturbance regimes. Other portions of one occurrence have been recently invaded by woody swamp plants such as Acer rubrum, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Rosa palustris.