##  [An 11,000 Year Record Of Plant Community Stability And Paludification In A Patterned Rich Fen In Northeastern Alberta, Canada](/resource/11000-year-record-plant-community-stability-and-paludification-patterned-rich-fen) 

Organization

[Southern Illinois University](/organization/southern-illinois-university)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Dale Vitt

Melissa House

 

 

Original Authors

Dale Vitt

Melissa House

 

 

Contacts

[Dale Vitt](/contact/dale-vitt-0)

 

 

Resource Date:

March

2023

 

 

*This resource is available on an external database and may require a paid subscription to access it. It is included on the CCLM to support our goal of capturing and sharing the breadth of all available knowledge pertaining to Boreal Caribou, Wetlands, and Land Management.*

Abstract  
Patterned rich fens have a diverse flora and are maintained by unidirectional inflowing water with high concentrations of base cations, along with high pH   
and limited nutrients. Rich fens are among the most threatened ecosystems in Europe, but are not uncommon across the western boreal forest zone of   
Canada. Utilizing 10 radiocarbon dated cores extracted from the wetland, we investigated the Holocene developmental history of a large patterned rich   
fen in northeastern Alberta (McClelland Wetland). Organic matter accumulation began around 11,457cal yr BP as primary peat formation on recently   
deglaciated substrates. Over the 10,000+ years history of McClelland Wetland, the central portions of the wetland have been remarkably resistant to   
change, with little alteration in dominant species. The resistance to change is set against a background of fluctuations in regional Holocene climate and   
local varying water balance. The dominant bryophyte species (Hamatocaulis vernicosus and Scorpidium scorpioides) continued to play a foundational role on   
site for the duration of the Holocene, dependent on a persistent long-term ground water source. Accumulation rates of organic matter have remained   
steady once the dominant bryophyte layer was established, but with accumulation rates at paludifying marginal sites lower than those of the central   
moss-graminoid-dominated areas.