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Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions Ecosystem: Relict Glacial Drainageway Map Component: DW5A
Extent: 400 wetland polygons; 2650.3 ha; 1.87% of wetland area; 2.42% of wetland polygons. |
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A DW5A unit near Starisky Creek (polygon 6665). |
Wetland Indicators Type: Mineral, occasionally Peatlands. Average depth to water table: 38.8 cm; n=24 Organic layer thickness: 46.3 cm; n=24. Average depth to redoximorphic features: 60.7 cm; n=3 Common Soils: TRUULI, NIKOLAI, STARICHKOF, COAL CREEK Common Plant communities: Lutz spruce / Barclay's willow / Field horsetail / Crowberry Lutz spruce / Field horsetail – Bluejoint
NWI: PFO4Bg HGM: Terrene Slope/Flat groundwater-dominated Throughflow (headwater) |
| Accuracy assessment: 61 polygons interpreted as DW5A on aerial photographs were field checked. 37 remained DW5A; 4 each were revised to Rea and SM; 2 each were revised to K34, K4, LB6 and SL; 1 each was revised to: D3, DW5, DW55A, LB43, RB, SAL, SLS and SMA. | |
This widespread, common forested map component is frequently encountered along modern 'underfit' streams. These are areas along stream valley bottoms that are not necessarily part of the modern floodplain. This component will also occur along short relict channels connecting kettles, on a kettle-kame landscape. On the northern peninsula, the forest is dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana), in the south Lutz spruce (P. X. lutzii) dominates. This component will frequently occupy the border between wetland and upland.
DW5A also commonly forms a complex with the wetter DW2 or DW3 components, resulting in a forest with a wet understory, often over peat. Unlike other forested wetlands, which are often difficult to interpret from aerial photographs, DW5A reliably meets the 1987 Army Corps wetland criteria.
