Fewflower sedge – Tall cottongrass
	Carex pauciflora – Eriophorum angustifolium
	n = 4
	III.A.3.k. Subarctic Lowland Sedge-Moss Bog Meadow
	Ecosystem: Relict Lakebed, Depression

DeVelice et. al. (1999) describe a very similar tall cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) - fewflower sedge (Carex pauciflora) type on Chugach National Forest, putting it into Viereck et.al.’s (1992) wet sedge meadow tundra class.  In The Alaska Vegetation Classification (Viereck, et. al. 1992), tall cottongrass types are primarily listed as a tundra class. This plant occurs as a co-dominant in 29 plots in three Kenai lowlands types (where tundra is absent).  The Alaska Vegetation class which best fits the physical description of these sites, "subarctic lowland sedge-moss bog meadow", contains several cottongrass communities, but none with tall cottongrass, or fewflower sedge.  Boggs (2000) describes a tall cottongrass type lacking fewflower sedge, on the Copper River delta.

Fewflower sedge - tall cottongrass is a mossy wet type with some dwarf birch (Betula nana) and few other shrubs.  It primarily occurs on southern Lowlands relict glacial lakebeds.  

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) and bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) are present, but sparse.  Fewflower sedge cover can be thick, but typically covers about one third of the site.  Tall cottongrass cover is open, usually about half as abundant as fewflower sedge.  

Organic mats are over 1 meter thick, and the water table is less than 10 centimeters below the surface.  Standing water is present; all these sites qualify as jurisdictional wetlands.   

Table 1.  Frequency of occurrence and hydric status of soil series named at NRCS holes.  Bold type indicates soils on the NRCS Alaska hydric soils list.

Table 2.  Summary of plant frequency and average cover for plants occurring in more than 50% of plots. 

Introduction and Key to Plant Communities   Introduction and Key to Ecosystems     Kenai Hydric Soils    Map Unit Summary    Methods    Glossary