Characteristic Plants Alpine Bog These plants are frequently found in this community type. Those with an asterisk are State Rank S1 these bogs often have lenses of peat often diagnostic of this community. beneath the vegetation that remain frozen Dwarf Shrub Community Description well into the growing season. Alpine bilberry Peat mosses form a carpet on which Baked apple-berry dwarf bog shrubs and herbs are Diagnostics Black crowberry* scattered. The herb layer generally This type occurs near or above treeline on Labrador tea totals 25-40% cover and consists of a saturated substrate. Peat mosses exceed Leatherleaf* patches of graminoids such as deer- cover of other vegetation, with reindeer Pale laurel hair sedge and tufted cotton-grass lichens essentially absent. Shrubs include Small cranberry* interspersed with patches of dwarf heath lower-elevation species as well as the more Alpine Bog Herb shrubs such as bilberries, crowberry, restricted bilberry and crowberry. Herbs Bogs, which occur on steeper slopes Bog sedge* Labrador tea, leatherleaf, rhodora, and are mostly graminoids. (>20%), have the dwarf shrub - herb Deer-hair sedge* sheep laurel (the latter less abundant cover exceeding bryoid cover, have more Few-flowered sedge* here than in other dwarf shrub bog Similar Types krummholz (spruce, fir, or cedar) and Round-leaved sundew vegetation types). A few islands of The montane setting differentiates this fruticose lichens, and usually lack deer- Tufted cotton-grass* stunted balsam fir and black spruce may hair sedge and cotton-grass. Both types from other peatland community types. Bryoid be present. Small cranberry and round are floristically similar to certain coastal The Sphagnum substrate differentiates Cetraria lichen* – leaved sundew grow on the peat moss. it from other high-elevation types, except raised peatlands and Heath - Crowberry Fen sickle-moss* Baked apple-berry is frequent and is for Heath - Lichen Subalpine Slope Maritime Slope Bogs. restricted in Maine to these alpine bogs Sphagnum mosses*

Cotton-grass - Heath Alpine Bog and Downeast peatlands. Location Map Conservation, Wildlife, and Associated Rare Plants Management Considerations Soil and Site Characteristics The few known Maine occurrences of Northern comandra These wetlands occur in alpine or this type occur on public or private subalpine settings near or above conservation land; hiker traffic has caused Associated Rare Animals treeline. Sites are usually level, in small degradation in heavily used areas. As with Northern bog lemming bedrock depressions, or slightly sloping all alpine vegetation in Maine, careful on the edge of basins. The substrate trail siting and efforts to minimize off is permanently saturated organic soil. trail use are the important management Unlike its lower elevation counterparts, considerations. In these alpine wetlands, boardwalks or log crossings are helpful. Examples on Conservation Lands You Can Visit This high elevation bog community • Mahoosuc Public Lands – Oxford provides potential habitat for the rare Co. northern bog lemming. • Saddleback Mountain, Appalachian Trail – Franklin Co. Distribution Montane western Maine, extending westward into New Hampshire and possibly northeasterly to the Gaspé Peninsula.

Cotton-Grass Tussock Landscape Pattern: Small Patch Maine Natural Areas Program