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Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions
Ecosystem: Relict Glacial Drainageway Map Component: DW2 |
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Extent: 77 wetland polygons; 508.7 ha; 0.36% of
wetland area; 0.47% of wetland polygons.
 A DW2 unit in a large peatland complex off of Cohoe Loop Road (polygon 9327). |
Wetland Indicators Type: Peat Average depth to water table: 14.9 cm; n=25 sites Organic layer thickness: 132.2 cm; n=25 sites Average depth to redoximorphic features: 97.0 cm at the one site measured. Common Soils: SALAMATOF, STARICHKOF Common Plant communities: Water sedge / Marsh fivefinger Sphagnum moss - Creeping sedge
NWI: PEM/SS1Bg HGM: Terrene Slope/Flat groundwater-dominated Throughflow (headwater) |
| Accuracy assessment: 6 polygons interpreted as DW2 on aerial photographs were field checked. 2 remained DW2; 3 were revised to DW3 and one was revised to K32. | |
The DW2 map component is common, especially along the margins of underfit streams in the upper Anchor River watershed. It is the Relict Glacial Drainageway component typically dominated by sedges, or sometimes by the shrub sweetgale (Myrica gale), with a water table at or near the surface. It will often form a complex with other Relict Glacial Drainageway map components. One a scale of wettest to upland, it occurs between the DW1 component, where flowing, unchannelized standing water often forms a medial, linear feature, and the shrubbier, hummocky DW3 component found in slightly higher topographic positions. Occasionally, the DW2 component will occur as a complex with the forested component (DW5A) where standing water and sedges occupy the understory of a Lutz spruce (Picea X lutzii) forest.
