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G336 Spartina pectinata - Calamagrostis stricta - Carex spp. Great Plains Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Seepage Fen Group
Type Concept Sentence: This group of seasonally flooded herbaceous wetlands is found in the northern and central Great Plains, usually in basins but sometimes on the margins of floodplains; most sites have abundant Calamagrostis stricta, Carex spp., and Spartina pectinata.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Prairie Cordgrass - Slimstem Reedgrass - Sedge species Great Plains Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Seepage Fen Group
Colloquial Name: Great Plains Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Seepage Fen
Hierarchy Level: Group
Type Concept: This group includes herbaceous wetlands and fens in the eastern and central Great Plains. Examples occur in basins or along slow-moving streams or rivers. Sites are flooded or saturated for part of the growing season but often dry out in late summer. These wet meadows and wet prairies typically have moderate to dense cover of herbaceous vegetation 1-2 m tall. Calamagrostis stricta, Carex spp., and Spartina pectinata are common dominants, though several other species are common locally or in some parts of the range. Soils are fine-textured and may be mineral or mucky in most sites. In fens, soils are muck or peat.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Shallow, seasonally flooded or sometimes saturated herbaceous wetlands that are found in the Great Plains. Woody species are rare or absent. Some sites have moderate levels of salinity.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This group is similar in concept to ~Midwest Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Shrub Swamp Group (G770)$$, which occurs further east, but there is substantial overlap in species composition and physiognomic and environmental characteristics. Carex nebrascensis might help distinguish from it Eastern North American Wet Meadow Group (it occurs in the western U.S. but not east of Great Plains).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: These wet meadows and wet prairies are dominated by herbaceous plants, usually graminoids. Vegetation cover is typically moderate to dense and between 1 and 2 m tall.
Floristics: This group is dominated by medium to tall herbaceous species. Abundant species include Spartina pectinata, Calamagrostis stricta, Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex spp. (including Carex atherodes, Carex pellita, Carex nebrascensis), Glyceria spp., Juncus spp., Lycopus americanus, Panicum virgatum, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, and Triglochin maritima. Pascopyrum smithii often occurs on the drier edges of this group in the western parts of its range. Fens in the Great Plains are included in this group. In those sites, some species rarely found elsewhere in this group occur. These include Rhynchospora capillacea, Lobelia kalmii, Dulichium arundinaceum, Carex prairea, and Onoclea sensibilis. In more saline areas, common species can include Carex sartwellii, Carex praegracilis, Plantago eriopoda, and Schoenoplectus pungens.
Dynamics: Hydrologic changes (flooding and drought) affect sites in this group significantly. In drier years, sites can be invaded by species from adjacent prairies, while in wetter years, species typical of more permanently flooded marshes do well. Also, fire spreading from adjacent upland prairies can sweep through examples of this group. Many sites have been affected by agricultural practices and either converted to row crops or affected by grazing and trampling by livestock.
Environmental Description: This group occurs on poorly drained nearly level sites with few exceptions. Most sites are in basins or along slow-moving streams or rivers and have seasonally flooded fine-textured soils. Some sites can be moderately saline: these are more common in the western parts of the distribution of this group. Fens in the Great Plains are included in this group. The fens occur where minerotrophic groundwater emerges at the surface, typically on the lower slopes of a hill or cliff or in floodplains. Marl or peat can form in these fens.
Geographic Range: This group is found throughout the eastern and central Great Plains from the southern Prairie Provinces of Canada to Oklahoma. It probably does not extend west into the shortgrass prairie beyond eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming, and western Kansas or east beyond western Minnesota, central Iowa, and northwestern Missouri.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: AB, CO, IA, KS, MB, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, OK, SD, SK, WY
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.857050
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
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.5 Prairie Cordgrass - Cattail species - Bulrush species Great Plains Marsh, Wet Meadow, Shrubland & Playa Macrogroup | M071 | 2.C.4.Nd.5 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Nd.5.b Prairie Cordgrass - Slimstem Reedgrass - Sedge species Great Plains Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Seepage Fen Group | G336 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.b |
| Alliance | A3492 Switchgrass - Western Wheatgrass Wet Meadow Alliance | A3492 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.b |
| Alliance | A3493 Prairie Cordgrass Great Plains Wet Meadow Alliance | A3493 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.b |
| Alliance | A3495 Sedge species - Seaside Arrow-grass - Few-flower Spikerush Alkaline Fen Alliance | A3495 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Prairie Potholes (Richardson 2000)
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, S. Gawler, M. Hall, C. Josse, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, L. Sneddon, K. Schulz, J. Teague, M. Russo, K. Snow, and P. Comer, editors. 2010-2019a. Divisions, Macrogroups and Groups for the Revised U.S. National Vegetation Classification. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. plus appendices. [in preparation]
- Lauver, C. L., K. Kindscher, D. Faber-Langendoen, and R. Schneider. 1999. A classification of the natural vegetation of Kansas. The Southwestern Naturalist 44:421-443.
- Richardson, C. J. 2000. Freshwater wetlands. Pages 448-499 in: M. G. Barbour and W. D. Billings, editors. North American terrestrial vegetation. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, New York. 434 pp.
- Stewart, R. E., and H. A. Kantrud. 1971. Classification of natural ponds and lakes in the glaciated prairie region. USDI Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Resources, Publication 92. Washington, DC. 77 pp.