Print Report

A2564 Elymus glaucus - Carex pellita - Carex feta Wet Meadow Alliance

Type Concept Sentence: This herbaceous wet meadow alliance is dominated by Elymus glaucus, Carex pellita, and/or Carex feta, and occurs in mid to high mountain valleys and basin floors.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Blue Wildrye - Woolly Sedge - Green-sheath Sedge Wet Meadow Alliance

Colloquial Name: Blue Wildrye - Sedge Wet Meadow

Hierarchy Level:  Alliance

Type Concept: This herbaceous wet meadow alliance is dominated by Elymus glaucus, Carex pellita, and/or Carex feta, and occurs in foothill and montane valleys of the California Sierra Nevada. Soils are very poorly drained and range from sand to peat.

Diagnostic Characteristics: Elymus glaucus has >50% relative cover or is conspicuous along with other graminoids such as Agrostis gigantea, Carex feta, and Carex pellita (Keeler-Wolf et al. 2003).

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This alliance does not include Elymus glaucus ssp. virescens which is coastal.

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

Floristics: This association forms a continuous herb layer (0.5-1 m tall) dominated by Elymus glaucus, Carex pellita (= Carex lanuginosa), Carex feta, and Poa pratensis. Achillea millefolium, Agrostis stolonifera, Artemisia douglasiana, Carex athrostachya, Equisetum arvense, Juncus xiphioides, Lotus pinnatus, Lotus unifoliolatus var. unifoliolatus, Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis, Potentilla sp., Rumex acetosella, and Solidago californica are common. Agrostis gigantea, Brodiaea elegans, Bromus hordeaceus, Bromus arvensis (= Bromus japonicus), Bromus tectorum, Carex sp., Cirsium vulgare, Deschampsia danthonioides, Equisetum laevigatum, Euthamia occidentalis, Juncus balticus, Lessingia leptoclada, Leptosiphon ciliatus (= Linanthus ciliatus), Lotus unifoliolatus, Madia elegans ssp. elegans, Muhlenbergia richardsonis, Poa compressa, Senecio elegans?, and Stachys albens may be found contributing to minor cover. Occasionally, Asclepias fascicularis, Iris missouriensis, Juncus mexicanus, and Rumex acetosella may be common.

Dynamics:  Disturbance is common and is usually caused by low-impact levels from invasion of exotic species and sometimes by low- to medium-impact levels from road or trail construction and development.
Environmental Description:  Stands are found at low elevations (1190-2290 m [3900-7500 feet]) in foothill and montane meadows at the bottoms of flat mountain valleys. Soils are poorly drained to very poorly drained, and textures range from sandy loam to peat from granitic parent material. Litter tends to be high, and water may cover as much as half the stand. Stands tend to dry out completely by end of summer. Elymus glaucus is a facultative wetland plant (USFWS Wetland Inventory list (1996)).
Geographic Range: This alliance is found in the California Sierra Nevada.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  CA


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.Nb Western North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division D031 2.C.4.Nb
Macrogroup 2.C.4.Nb.5 Sitka Alder - Booth''s Willow / Northwest Territory Sedge Montane Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup M893 2.C.4.Nb.5
Group 2.C.4.Nb.5.b Sedge species - Reedgrass species Montane Wet Meadow & Marsh Group G521 2.C.4.Nb.5.b
Alliance A2564 Blue Wildrye - Woolly Sedge - Green-sheath Sedge Wet Meadow Alliance A2564 2.C.4.Nb.5.b
Association CEGL008703 Blue Wildrye - Green-sheath Sedge Wet Meadow CEGL008703 2.C.4.Nb.5.b
Association CEGL008704 Blue Wildrye - Woolly Sedge Wet Meadow CEGL008704 2.C.4.Nb.5.b
Concept Lineage: equivalent to A.2564

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Elymus glaucus (Blue wild rye meadows) Alliance (Sawyer et al. 2009) [41.640.00]
? Elymus glaucus Alliance (Blue wild rye meadows) (Buck-Diaz et al. 2012)
? Elymus glaucus Herbaceous Alliance (Keeler-Wolf et al. 2012)
Concept Author(s): J.O. Sawyer T. Keeler-Wolf, and J. Evens (2009)

Author of Description: G. Kittel

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-08-14
  • Buck-Diaz, J., S. Batiuk, and J. M. Evens. 2012. Vegetation alliances and associations of the Great Valley ecoregion, California. California Native Society, Sacramento, CA. [http://cnps.org/cnps/vegetation/pdf/great_valley_eco-vegclass2012.pdf]
  • Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
  • Keeler-Wolf, T., M. Schindel, S. San, P. Moore, and D. Hickson. 2003a. Classification of the vegetation of Yosemite National Park and surrounding environs in Tuolumne, Mariposa, Madera and Mono counties, California. Unpublished report by NatureServe in cooperation with the California Native Plant Society and California Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife and Habitat Data Analysis Branch, Sacramento, CA.
  • Keeler-Wolf, T., P. E. Moore, E. T. Reyes, J. M. Menke, D. N. Johnson, and D. L. Karavidas. 2012. Yosemite National Park vegetation classification and mapping project report. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/YOSE/NRTR--2012/598. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO.
  • Sawyer, J. O., T. Keeler-Wolf, and J. Evens. 2009. A manual of California vegetation. Second edition. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento CA. 1300 pp.
  • USFWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]. 1996. National list of vascular plant species that occur in wetlands: 1996 national summary. March 3, 1997. Ecology Section - National Wetlands Inventory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [http://library.fws.gov/Pubs9/wetlands_plantlist96.pdf]