Print Report
G617 Carex aquatilis - Eriophorum angustifolium Arctic Wet Meadow Group
Type Concept Sentence: This group is found throughout arctic and subarctic Alaska. Its distribution in Canada needs to be determined.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Water Sedge - Tall Cottongrass Arctic Wet Meadow Group
Colloquial Name: North American Arctic Wet Meadow
Hierarchy Level: Group
Type Concept: This group is found in arctic and subarctic Canada and in arctic Alaska, from the Bristol Bay lowlands in southwestern Alaska to the North Slope on the Arctic Ocean in valley bottoms, basins, low-center polygons, oxbows, wet depressions, low-lying areas, abandoned channels, watertracks and adjacent to streams. This group also includes patterned wetlands such as ribbed fens. Soils range from acidic to non-acidic, are saturated during the summer, and have an organic horizon over silt with permafrost, although on floodplains, permafrost is absent. Sites are typically sedge-dominated, and species include Carex aquatilis, Eriophorum angustifolium, Carex glareosa, Carex rotundata, Carex rariflora, Carex chordorrhiza, Carex rostrata, Carex saxatilis, Carex utriculata, Eriophorum russeolum, and Eriophorum scheuchzeri. More elevated perimeters support low shrubs and tussocks. Common shrubs include Betula nana, Salix fuscescens, Salix pulchra, Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens, Andromeda polifolia, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Vaccinium uliginosum, and Empetrum nigrum.
Diagnostic Characteristics: This group represents sedge-dominated valley bottoms, basins, low-center polygons, oxbows, wet depressions, low-lying areas, abandoned channels, and sideslope watertracks that occur in the arctic and subarctic regions of Alaska and Canada.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Clarify the overlap with rich fens (~Western North American Boreal Alkaline Fen Group (G361)$$). Carex aquatilis types on peat soils may be distinguished from Carex aquatilis types on mucky, mineral soils. For example, Mackenzie and Moran (2004) distinguish Carex utriculata - Carex aquatilis marsh (wm01) on flooded, mineral soils from Carex aquatilis - Carex utriculata fen (wf01) on peat (>30 cm). There may be many Canadian types that are not described here (M. Raynolds pers. comm. 2012).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This group is defined by perennial graminoid vegetation.
Floristics: Sites are typically dominated by sedge species, which can include Carex aquatilis, Carex glareosa, Carex rostrata, Carex rotundata, Carex rariflora, Carex chordorrhiza, Carex saxatilis, Carex utriculata, Dupontia fisheri, Eriophorum angustifolium, Eriophorum russeolum, and Eriophorum scheuchzeri. More elevated, better-drained sites within these wetlands support low shrubs and tussocks. Characteristic mosses include Scorpidium scorpioides, Limprichtia revolvens, Sarmenthypnum sarmentosum and/or Sphagnum spp.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This group is found throughout arctic and subarctic Alaska and Canada, in valley bottoms, basins, low-center polygons, oxbows, wet depressions, low-lying areas, abandoned channels, sideslope watertracks and adjacent to streams. Soils range from acidic to non-acidic, are saturated during the summer, and usually have an organic horizon over mineral soil. In the Arctic, the organic horizon may be thick enough that the active layer does not reach the mineral horizon.
Geographic Range: This group is found throughout arctic and subarctic Alaska and Canada. Its characteristics in Canada need to be determined.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: AK, LB, NT, NU, QC, YT
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.860745
Confidence Level: High
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.Np Arctic & Boreal Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D320 | 2.C.4.Np |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Np.1 Pendantgrass - Water Sedge - Tall Cottongrass Arctic Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup | M870 | 2.C.4.Np.1 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Np.1.b Water Sedge - Tall Cottongrass Arctic Wet Meadow Group | G617 | 2.C.4.Np.1.b |
| Alliance | A4356 Arctic Acidic Wet Meadow Alliance | A4356 | 2.C.4.Np.1.b |
| Alliance | A4357 Arctic Nonacidic Wet Meadow Alliance | A4357 | 2.C.4.Np.1.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: > Carex aquatilis - Eriophorum angustifolium - Carex rotundata (Water sedge - tall cottongrass - round sedge) (Hanson 1953)
> Carex chordorrhiza (Creeping sedge) (Spetzman 1959)
> Carex rostrata - Carex aquatilis (Beaked sedge - water sedge) (Dachnowski-Stokes 1941)
> Eriophorum angustifolium - Carex chordorrhiza (Tall cottongrass - creeping sedge) (Webber et al. 1978)
> Carex chordorrhiza (Creeping sedge) (Spetzman 1959)
> Carex rostrata - Carex aquatilis (Beaked sedge - water sedge) (Dachnowski-Stokes 1941)
> Eriophorum angustifolium - Carex chordorrhiza (Tall cottongrass - creeping sedge) (Webber et al. 1978)
- Dachnowski-Stokes, A. P. 1941. Peat resources in Alaska. Technical Bulletin 769. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 84 pp.
- 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]
- Hanson, H. C. 1953. Vegetation types in northwestern Alaska and comparisons with communities in other arctic regions. Ecology 34(1):111-140.
- Jorgenson, M. T. 2000. Hierarchical organization of ecosystems at multiple scales on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 32:221-239.
- Komarkova, V., and P. J. Webber. 1980. Two low arctic vegetation maps near Atkasook, Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 12:447-472.
- MacKenzie, W. H., and J. R. Moran. 2004. Wetlands of British Columbia: A guide to identification. Land Management Handbook No. 52. Research Branch, British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Lands, Victoria, BC. 287 pp.
- Nowacki, G., P. Spencer, M. Fleming, T. Brock, and T. Jorgenson. 2001a. Unified ecoregions of Alaska. Open file-report 02-297. USDI U.S. Geological Survey. 2 pp. plus map.
- Raynolds, Martha. Personal communication. Research Biologist, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK.
- Spetzman, L. A. 1959. Vegetation of the Arctic slope of Alaska. Geological Survey Professional Paper 302-B. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. 58 pp.
- Swanson, J. D., M. Schuman, and P. C. Scorup. 1985. Range survey of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. USDA Soil Conservation Service, Anchorage, AK. 77 pp. plus maps.
- Viereck, L. A., C. T. Dyrness, A. R. Batten, and K. J. Wenzlick. 1992. The Alaska vegetation classification. General Technical Report PNW-GTR286. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR. 278 pp.
- Webber, P. J., V. Komarkova, D. A. Walker, and E. Werbe. 1978. Vegetation mapping and response to disturbance along the Yukon River-Prudhoe Bay Haul Road. Pages 25-87 in: J. Brown, principal investigator. Ecological baseline investigations along the Yukon River-Prudhoe Bay Haul Road, Alaska. Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH.
- Young, S. B. 1971. The vascular flora of St. Lawrence Island with special reference to floristic zonation in the arctic regions. Contributions to Gray Herbarium 201:11-115.