A michigan fen

[Glenn]

Attached are some pictures from a local fen.  I also posted pictures from my visit in the Conservation Station, Pitcher Plants, Sundews and Utricularia forums.

The following shots are of Sarracenia purpurea spp. purpurea growing on marl flats.

Just wanted to share.

It's great to see healthy populations of CPs in the wild!

 

[buckeye]

That's pretty neat! What's a fen? Is it kind of like a bog??


-buckeye

 

[Darcie]

Awsome... Buckeye, a fen is a wetland feild, sort of like a swamp is a wetland forest.

 

[Ozzy]

A fen is an area that is mostly flat and has shallow water that runs through it. It is mostly feed by underground limestone springs. It is alkaline instead of acidic. Mostly these are found around The Great Lake region, but they are also found other places.

 

[Wesley]

Wow, those are some great pictures.

I hope that picture showed if not I'll tell you which one is my favorite. My favorite picture is the first one. They look so healthy.</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It's great to see healthy populations of CPs in the wild! [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'> Yes, it is great to see healthy wild plant populations.

I am still trying to get my mom and dad to take my to see some wild populations here in North Carolina. Oh well, if they wont take me I'll go when I've got my licsense.

Later

,
Wes

 

[herenorthere]

So, those are the legendary alkaline-growing S. purpureas of the Great Lakes region. Thanks for posting the photos because I was curious how they and their habitat look. Calcareous fens are extremely scarce here in the northeast, but weren't uncommon where I used to live, in Mississippi. Fens are wetlands dominated by ground water discharge, whether from limestone or not. Bogs, the usual habitat of CPs, are dominated by precipitation.

 

[Darcie]

erm, I don't think so. MI has a lot of acidic and nutral fens too because of the way flooding works here. Seeing as their are rotundifolia also growing their, I'd guess that it is not one of our alkaline areas. ... That and the alkaline growing purps I've seen pictures of look wacked out.

 

[Glenn]

This area is definately a fen. The Sarrs are growing on marl flats. Marl is percipitated calcerous stuff, my chemistry sucks as well as my spelling. Marl is alkaline. There was a section in the fen with a sphagnum hummuck where the fen is converting to bog. Fens are richer in menerals then bogs and if the are rich enough (rich fen), they turn into cendar swamps. If the y are poor in minerals (poor fewn) sphagnum mosses colinize the fens increasing the acidity and convert the fen to a bog. I'm not an expert I'm just quoting what I've learned from a good book called A focuus on peatlands and peat moses by Howard Crum, Sandra Planisek, University of Michigan Press; ISBN: 0472063782. This is a very technical book but great if you live in the great lakes area and want to know about that sort of stuff.

 

[Wesley]

That's really cool. I did not know that. I guess it's true that you learn something new everyday.LOL

Later,
Wes

 

[Glenn]

If you want to know about Michigan Fens, check this out.

http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/abstracts/ecology/prairie_fen.pdf

 

[Glenn]

The previous post describes the area I visited. If you look at the photo at the site and look at the one I posted in the Conservation Forum you can see the similarity.

If you wnat to know more about Michigan's other CP habitats check out this link which talks about other types of fens, bogs and swamps.

http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/data/MNFI_Natural_Communities.pdf