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<br />Forb cover and diversity usually are high. Forbs such as spotted joe-pye weed <br />(Eupatorium maculatum), common mint (Mentha arvensis), turtlehead (Chelone <br />glabra), and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) are conspicuous. Shrub cover in <br />wet meadows ranges from 0 to 70% and is composed of Bebb's willows and pussy <br />willows. Mosses are rare or absent. <br /> <br />Wet meadow occurs on wet mineral soil, muck, <br />or shallow peat (<0.5 m). Standing water <br />(generally stagnant) is present in the spring and <br />after heavy rains, but the water table is generally <br />below the soil surface for most of the growing <br />season. The drawdown of the water table as the <br />growing season progresses enables the oxidation <br />of dead organic matter that has accumulated on the ground surface from previous <br />years. This process makes available nutrients for some of the nutrient-demanding <br />species present in the community. Occurrences of wet meadow along stream courses <br />or adjacent to lakes often have fairly constant water levels relative to wet meadows in <br />depressions or basins. On these sites siltation may be important in maintaining high <br />nutrient levels. <br /> <br /> <br />Wet meadow tends to succeed to shrub swamp communities in-the absence of fire. <br />Water-table lowering caused by drought or by ditching promotes succession of wet <br />meadow to shrub swamps. Wet meadows on organic soils, like other communities <br />that occur on organic soils, recover very slowly, if at all, once altered by artificial <br />flooding or draining. <br /> <br />Poor fen (MLCCS Codes 61450, 61451/30 Total Acres) <br />Eleven occurrences of poor fen were noted during this survey, most of which are in the <br />northem part of the city. Those which were inventoried were all of good to very good <br />quality. <br /> <br />Poor Fen is most common in the conifer-hardwood forest zone, with scattered <br />occurrences in the deciduous forest-woodland zone. The ground cover of the <br />community is typically dominated by wiregrass sedge (Carex lasiocarpa) or few- <br />seeded sedge (C. oligosperma). Mud sedge (C. lirnosa), creeping sedge (C. <br />chordorrhiza), beaked-sedge (Rhynchospora alba), tufted club-rush (Scirpus <br />cespitosus), scheuchzeria (Scheuchzeria palustris), and ericaceous shrubs are <br /> <br />City of Elk River, MN - Natural Resouce Inventory <br />Bonestroo Natural Resources, September 2004 <br /> <br />30 <br />