Headwater Fen Ecosystem Map Units: H1-3; H21; H13

Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska

Map Unit Descriptions

Ecosystem: Headwater Fen

Map Units: H1-3; H21; H13

Extent:

H1-3: 24 wetland polygons; 18.9 ha; 0.02% of wetland area; 0.02% of wetland polygons.

H21: 12 wetland polygons; 24.8 ha; 0.03% of wetland area; 0.02% of wetland polygons.

H13: 1 wetland polygon; 0.0 ha; 0.0% of wetland area; 0.0% of wetland polygons

An H21 Headwater Fen in the upper Anchor River watershed (polygon 10257).

An H1-3 unit in the upper Anchor River watershed (polygon 19763). The components in this unit segregate, with open water in the center, sedges around the pool, then shrubs bordering the upland.

Wetland Indicators

Type: Peat

Average depth to water table:

H1: pond

H2: 7.6 cm; n=14

H3: 14.1 cm; n=10

Organic layer thickness:

H1: n/a

H2: 147.6 cm; n=15

H3: 138.0 cm; n=9

Average depth to redoximorphic features: n/a

Common Soils:

H1: n/a

H2: STARICHKOF, SALAMATOF

H3: STARICHKOF, SALAMATOF

Common Plant communities:

H1 component:

Buckbean

H2 component:

Tufted bulrush – Dwarf birch

Fewflower sedge - Dwarf birch

Tufted bulrush – Tall cottongrass

Tufted bulrush – Fewflower sedge

Sphagnum moss - Water sedge

H3 Component:

Crowberry – Bog blueberry

Bog blueberry – Dwarf birch – Tufted hairgrass

Tufted bulrush – Fewflower sedge

Accuracy assessment: 1 polygon interpreted as H1-3 on aerial photographs was field checked. It remained H1-3. 1 polygon interpreted as H21 on aerial photographs was field checked. It remained H21.

H1-3 complexes are the Headwater Fen ecosystem wetlands with an open water (H1) and diverse shrubby component (H3), and often containing a shallow water table, sedge-dominated component (H2). H21 lacks the diverse, often shrubby component (H3). All of these complexes form small wetlands at the heads of upper stream reaches in the Caribou Hills.

H3 components in the upper Anchor River watershed often contain a rare plant, elephant-head lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica. Rank S1S2: imperiled to critically imperiled in the State of Alaska according to the Alaska Natural Heritage Program).