DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Eriophorum vaginatum | Sheathed Cottonsedge 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Sheathed cottonsedge has a circumboreal distribution.  In North America,
it is distributed from Alaska east to Labrador and south to Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.  Eriophorum vaginatum ssp.
spissum occurs throughout this range.  The typical subspecies is
primarily distributed in Eurasia but overlaps with E. v. ssp. spissum in
Alaska and Alberta [2,19,25,40,47].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir


STATES : 
     CT  IN  ME  MA  MI  MS  NH  NJ  NY  OH
     PA  RI  VT  WI  AB  BC  MB  NF  NT  NS
     ON  PE  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BELA  DENA  GAAR  KOVA  LACL  NOAT
     WRST  YUCH


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K094  Conifer bog
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    12  Black spruce
    13  Black spruce - tamarack
    21  Eastern white pine
    38  Tamarack
   204  Black spruce


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Sheathed cottonsedge-dominated tussock tundra vegetation types are
extensive in interior Alaksa; they are the most widespread types north
of the Brooks Range.  Sheathed cottonsedge vegetation types include
sheathed cottonsedge-ericaceous shrub, sheathed cottonsedge-willow, and
sheathed cottonsedge-mixed shrub [37,57].  Dryness and Grigal [9] list a
black spruce (Picea mariana)/sheathed cottonsedge woodland type also
occurring in interior Alaska.  Pure stands of sheathed cottonsedge are
relatively rare, although a few exist on arctic slopes.  Sheathed
cottonsedge is sometimes an understory species in Sitka alder (Alnus
viridis ssp. sinuata) communities [37,57].

Sheathed cottonsedge tussock tundra occurs at high elevations in the
Great Lakes and New England states.  Sheathed cottonsedge also grows in
open conifer swamps dominated by black spruce and/or tamarack (Larix
laricina) in the Lake States [33,60].

Publications listing sheathed cottonsedge as a dominant or indicator
species are as follows:

Vegetation types in northwestern Alaska and comparisons with
   communities in other Arctic regions [21]
Reconnaissance of vegetation and soils along the Dempster Highway,
   Yukon Territory:  I. Vegetation types [50].
A preliminary classification system for vegetation of Alaska [57]
The Alaska vegetation classification [58]

Shrub associates of sheathed cottonsedge in interior Alaska include bog
labrador tea (Ledum palustre), bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum),
dwarf arctic birch (Betula nana), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus),
leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), greyleaf willow (Salix glauca
ssp. acutifolia), and diamondleaf willow (S. planifolia ssp. pulchra).
Ground cover associates include Bigelow sedge (Carex bigelowii), Carex
lugens, mosses (Polytrichum juniperinum and Aulacomnium turgidum), and
lichens (Cetraria nivalis, C. cucullata, Cladonia gracilis, and C.
mitis) [2].

Sheathed cottonsedge associates in the Lake States include leatherleaf,
bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), bog birch (Betula pumila), bog
laurel (Kalmia polifolia), few-seeded sedge (Carex oligosperma), and
sphagnum mosses [60].

Related categories for Species: Eriophorum vaginatum | Sheathed Cottonsedge