Habitats of North Carolina

Members of Marshes, Mires, and Shoreline Habitats:

Marshes, Mires, and Shoreline Habitats
General Wet Meadows

No image for this habitat.

General Description

This habitat consists of open or partially shaded, shallow wetlands that are dominated by forbs; graminoids that are often mixed in with the forbs are treated separately in under General Sedge, Grass, and Rush Mires. These habitats are generally created and maintained by some form of disturbance. Historically, most were probably associated with beaver ponds but now often occur in wet pastures, where grazing by livestock keeps them open. In absence of grazing or beaver tree-cutting, these sites typically succeed to swamp or bottomland forests. Whether or not Mountain Bogs -- which have well developed peat layers -- originated from beaver ponds, they often have some of the species included under this habitat and are thus considered a component of it.

Abiotic Factors

Geographic Regions: High Mountains to the Lower Coastal Plain. USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-8. Landform: restricted to floodplains and wet flats. Soil Moisture: hydric. Soil Texture: mucky. Soil pH: usually acidic due to the build-up of humic acids. Soil Nutrients: generally poor with nutrient-rich examples found only in a few fens. Mucky soils are typically anoxic. Microclimate: warm to cool, humid. Flood Frequency: several times per year to permanent. Flood Duration: weeks to months or permanent. Presence of Pools: common; both permanent and ephemeral ponds and pools may imbedded withing this habitat. Fire Frequency: uncommon in bottomlands but frequent when adjoining fire-maintained habitats. Drought Frequency: rare. Insolation: partial to full sun.

Biotic Structure

Vegetation Type: herbland. Key Species species of forbs are the dominant plant species in this habitat; graminoids are also typically present, but like woody species, occur primarily as scattered individuals or patches. Strata: canopy, subcanopy, and shrub layers are absent, although individual trees or small shrubs may be present. Woody Debris and Leaf Litter: due to the saturated nature of the soils, decomposition takes place only slowly, with build-up of peat a common occurrence.

Co-evolved Species Groups

Phagic and Competitory Symbioses:
Ambrosia trifida // Chionodes mediofuscella
Verbesina species // Basilodes pepita
Vernonia noveboracensis // Papaipema cerussata

Determining Species

Taxa	Global Rank	State Rank	Probability of Extirpation (PE)
FORBS
Allium canadense - Meadow Garlic	G5	S5	0.00
Bidens aristosa - Bearded Beggarticks	G5	S5	0.00
Cicuta maculata - Spotted Water-hemlock	G5	S5	0.00
Conoclinium coelestinum - Blue Mistflower	G5	S5	0.00
Doellingeria umbellata - Tall Flat-top Aster	G5	S3	0.0058
Galium asprellum - Rough Bedstraw	G5	S2	0.0460
Lobelia siphilitica - Great Blue Lobelia	G5	S4	0.0007
Ludwigia alternifolia - Bushy Seedbox	G5	S5	0.00
Mimulus ringens - Allegheny Monkey-flower	G5	S4	0.0007
Persicaria sagittata - Arrowleaf Tearthumb	G5	S5	0.00
Symphyotrichum puniceum - Purplestem Aster	G5	S4	0.0007
Verbesina alternifolia - Wingstem	G5	S5	0.00
Vernonia noveboracensis - New York Ironweed	G5	S5	0.00
ORTHOPTERANS
Anaxipha tinnulenta - Slow-Tinkling Trig	GNR	S4	0.0007
Neocurtilla hexadactyla - Northern Mole Cricket	GNR	S4S5	0.0002
MOTHS
Basilodes pepita - Gold Moth	G4	SU	0.0020
Chionodes mediofuscella - Black-smudged Chionodes Moth	GNR	S4S5	0.0002
Eudryas unio - Pearly Wood-nymph Moth	G5	S4	0.0007
Papaipema cerussata - Ironweed Borer
GRAMINOIDS
Carex vulpinoidea - Fox Sedge	G5	S5	0.00
Juncus marginatus - Grassleaf Rush	G5	S5	0.00
Juncus scirpoides - Needlepod Rush	G5	S5	0.00
VINES
Climbing Hempweed -
TURTLES
Glyptemys muhlenbergii
CLUBMOSSES
Lycopodioides apodum - Meadow Spikemoss	G5	S5	0.00
SHRUBS
Spiraea tomentosa - Steeplebush	G5	S3	0.0058
MAMMALS
Zapus hudsonius - Meadow Jumping Mouse	G5	S1	0.3584
Expected Number of Extirpations with a PE value (Sum of PE) = 0.4219
N = Number of Extant Species with a PE value = 12
Average PE = ENE/N = 0.0352
Number of S5 species = 12
Proportion of Secure Species = Number of S5 Species/N = 1.0000
Habitat Risk Index = ENE x (1 – PSS) = 0.0000

Estimated Risk to the Determining Species

Estimated Security of the Habitat

Index of Habitat Imperilment

Identified Risks

Observed Trends

Distribution Map

Distribution

Major Conservation Reserves

Priority Areas for Surveys and Conservation Protection

Stewardship and Management Recommendations

References

Updated on

2021-12-21 13:55:42