Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska       Map Unit Descriptions   Ecosystem: Headwater Fen   Map Units: H2-4   Extent: 5 wetland polygons; 24.8 ha; 0.02% of wetland area; 0.03% of wetland polygons.

An H2-4 fen at the headwaters of Bridge Creek, the City of  Homer's drinking water supply (polygon 50008).

Wetland Indicators Type: Peat Average depth to water table: H2: 7.6 cm; n=14 H3: 14.1 cm; n=10 H4: n/a Organic layer thickness: H2: 147.6 cm; n=15 H3: 138.0 cm; n=9 H4: n/a Average depth to redoximorphic features: n/a Common Soils: H2: STARICHKOF, SALAMATOF H3: STARICHKOF, SALAMATOF H$: n/a Common Plant communities: 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   H4 Component (estimated): Lutz spruce / Sitka alder / Field horsetail Lutz spruce / Dwarf birch – Field horsetail

Accuracy assessment: None of the polygons interpreted as H2-4 on aerial photographs were field checked.

 

Only five small H2-4 Headwater Fens have been mapped.  These are small fens at higher elevation in a headwater basin with a shallow water table sedge-dominated component (H2), a diverse shrubby zone with a deeper water table(H3), to a woodland or forested fringe (H4).  No soils data are available from any, and plant communities were not recorded at the two that were visited at the headwaters of Bridge Creek, near Homer.

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).

Contact: Mike Gracz Kenai Watershed Forum  Homer Field Office Old Town Professional Center 3430 Main Street Suite B1 Homer, AK  99603 907-235-2218

15 November 2005 15:04