Kettlehole Wet Meadow State Rank: S3 - Vulnerable

Characteristic Species: Kettlehole Differentiating from Wet Meadows are typically fringed with Related shrubs, such as leatherleaf, high bush Communities: blueberry, buttonbush, and water willow, Kettlehole Wet Meadows and trees including tupelo, swamp white are a specialized type of oak, and red maple, often with sphagnum Shallow Emergent Marsh moss under them. By the end of the in small basins that have summer, with water lowered, the basin is dense graminoid marshes covered by dense growth of narrow- on mucky peat. They are leaved emergents (graminoids) often in temporarily inundated Kettlehole Wet Meadow in a basin with dense zones or patches of single species. Wool woolgrass. Photo: Patricia Swain, NHESP. after storms as well from grass can be close to a monoculture when high groundwater. Wet present. Other species present may Description: The Kettlehole Wet Meadows, also graminoid include different bulrushes (such as dusky Meadow community is a variation of both communities, are in lake wool-grass, red-stemmed bulrush, and Wet Meadow and Shallow Emergent basins, backwaters, and Torrey's bulrush); sedges including Marsh communities. It occurs in sloughs along rivers. Shallow Emergent summers, the areas provide important tussock-sedge; rushes (such as marsh depression basins (kettleholes in glacial Marshes are graminoid wetlands in breeding habitat for amphibians that live rush, bayonet rush, and pondshore rush); sediments) that are seasonally inundated broad, flat areas bordering rivers or along in surrounding forests during the rest of and grasses (including panic grasses, by local runoff and ground water pond margins and are seasonally flooded. the year. creeping bent grass, and manna grasses); fluctuations, and often have no stream Coastal Plain Pondshore Communities and other herbaceous plants including inlet or outlet. In the winters of most years and Coastal Plain Pondshore Examples with Public Access: marsh fern and beggar’s ticks. they may be shallow ponds that dry down Communities - Inland Variant are Douglas SF, Douglas; Minuteman to mucky peaty sediments through the generally on sand around ponds in closed National Park, Concord; Demarest Lloyd summer; emergent, usually graminoid, basins that intersect groundwater that SP, Dartmouth. vegetation, becomes dense as the growing affect pond levels. The seasonally season progresses. Deep peat does not fluctuating water table typically leaves an develop due to the seasonal drawdown of exposed shoreline by late summer that water. A series of plant associations occur supports herbaceous species. Sediments along a gradient from the higher, drier are sandy or mucky, but not peaty, and margins to the lower, wetter centers. late summer vegetation is not dominated by tall dense graminoids.

Kettlehole Wet Meadows are treeless Habitat for Associated Fauna: graminoid communities in small (<5 Generally being small, Kettlehole Wet acres) depressions in stratified glacial Meadows are parts of the habitat of wide deposits; For most of the year they look ranging species, including wetland nesting like shallow ponds but, by late summer birds. Kettlehole Wet Meadows often function as vernal pools: with standing dense graminoid vegetation covers the Torrey’s bulrush, sometimes part of the dense water in the winter and spring, and peaty sediments; marsh vegetation of Kettlehole Wet Meadows. Kettlehole Wet Meadow that functions as a vernal Photo: Donald Cameron. drawdown to the sediments in most pool. Photo: Megan Garretson, Lloyd Center.

From: Classification of Natural Communities of Massachusetts htthttpp://www;mass;gov/nhesp/://www;mass;gov/nhesp/ Updated: 2016 Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Division of FishFisheeriesries & Wildlife, 1 Rabbit Hill Rd;, Westborough, M! 01581 (508) 389-6360