Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks
Description (English)
Wetlands and spring-mires, seasonally or permanently waterlogged, with a soligenous or topogenous base-rich, often calcareous water supply. Peat formation, when it occurs, depends on a permanently high watertable. Rich fens may be dominated by small or larger graminoids (Carex spp., Eleocharis spp., Juncus spp., Molinia caerulea, Phragmites australis, Schoenus spp., Sesleria spp.) or tall herbs (e.g. Eupatorium cannabinum). Where the water is base-rich but nutrient-poor, small sedges usually dominate the mire vegetation, together with a "brown moss" carpet. Hard-water spring mires (D4.1N) often contain tufa cones and other tufa deposits. Excluded is the water body of hard-water springs (C2.1); calcareous flushes of the alpine zone are a separate category (D4.2). Rich fens are exceptionally endowed with spectacular, specialised, strictly restricted species. They are among the habitats that have undergone the most serious decline. They are essentially extinct in several regions and gravely endangered in much of central and western Europe.
Source:
EUNIS habitat classification
Interpretation Manual of the habitats targeted by Resolution No. 4
Quick facts
| EUNIS habitat type | code D4.1 |
|---|---|
| Bern Convention | Resolution 4 habitat type (used for designation of Emerald sites) |
| Relation to | Annex I habitat types (EU Habitats Directive) |
Legal status
Mentioned in the following international legal instruments and agreements
Relation to other habitat types mentioned in legal instruments
| Legal text | Annex | Name in legal text | Code in legal text |
Habitat type relationship |
More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora - consolidated version 01/01/2007 | Annex I: natural habitat types of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation | Alkaline fens | 7230 | Same | http://ec.europa.eu/environm...rective/index_en.htm |
Vegetation types
Relation to vegetation types (syntaxa)
| Name | Definition | Other names | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caricion davallianae Klika 1934 | Small-sedge rich-fen vegetation of calcareous oligotrophic flushes, soligenous mires and dune slacks at low altitudes of Europe | Hydrocotylo vulgaris-Schoenion nigricantis de Foucault 1984; Caricion maritimae Br.-Bl. in Volk 1940 nom. mut. propos.; Baeothryion alpini Julve 1993; Caricion incurvae Br.-Bl. in Volk 1940; Caricion paradoxae Vicherek 1958; Caricion pulchello-trinervis de Foucault 1984; Eleocharition pauciflorae Passarge 1964; Eleocharition quinqueflorae Passarge 1968 or 1978; Eriophorion latifolii Br.-Bl. et Tx. 1943; Eriophorion latifolii Br.-Bl. et Tx. ex Soó 1947; Caricion viridulae ssp. viridulae var. pulchello-trinervis (de Foucault 1984) Julve 1989; Schoenion continentale Pignatti 1953; Schoenion ferruginei Nordhagen 1936; Schoenion ferruginei Nordhagen 1937; Scorpidion Du Rietz 1949; Hydrocotylo vulgaris-Schoenion nigricantis de Foucault 2009; Epipactido-Schoenion ferruginei (Klika 1934) Duvigneaud 1949; Caricion pulchello-trinervis de Foucault ex Julve 1989 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Caricion atrofusco-saxatilis Nordhagen 1943 | Small-sedge calcareous fens of Alps and European Arctic | Caricion atrofuscae Nordhagen 1935; Caricion bicoloris Nordhagen 1935; Caricion bicoloris-atrofuscae Nordhagen 1936 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Dupontion fischeri Hadac 1946 | Arctic subsaline coastal peaty meadows on clayey soils of Svalbard and Greenland | Caricion stantis Elvebakk 2002 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Sphagno-Tomentypnion Dahl 1956 | Calcium-rich fens of boreal zone and mountains of Central Europe | Betulo nanae-Tomentypnion nitentis Smagin 1999; Bistorto-Caricion diandrae Smagin 2007; Caricion demissae Rybnícek 1964; Caricion pulicaris Passarge 1964; Caricion tumidicarpae Rybnícek 1964 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
Species mentioned in habitat description
Flowering Plants
Eupatorium cannabinum
Flowering Plants
Molinia caerulea
Flowering Plants
Phragmites australis
| Species scientific name | English common name | Species group |
|---|---|---|
| Eupatorium cannabinum | Flowering Plants | |
| Molinia caerulea | Flowering Plants | |
| Phragmites australis | Flowering Plants |
Other classifications
| Classification | Code | Habitat type name | Relationship type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 200112 | 54.2 | Rich fens | same |
| CORINE Land Cover | 4.1.1. | Inland marshes | n/a |
| Nordic Vegetation Classification 1994 | 3.4.2.1d | Hard Rush-Blunt-flowered Rush variant | n/a |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | E22 | Flush and spring: basic | overlap |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | E32B | Fen: basin mire, basic | overlap |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | E33B | Fen: flood plain, basic | not defined |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | E32 | Fen: basin mire | overlap |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | E33 | Fen: flood plain | not defined |
| Milieux Naturels de Suisse 1998 | 2.2.3 | Parvocariçaie neutro-basophile | same |
| Biotopes of the Czech Republic 2001 | R2.1 | VÁPNITÁ SLATINIŠTĚ (Calcareous fens) | narrower |
| Biotopes of Slovakia 1996 | 8362200 | Slatiny s vysokým obsahom uhlicitanov | n/a |
History
| Classification | Code | Habitat type name | Relationship type |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200410 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200308 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200202 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199910 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199811 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199712 | D4.1 | Rich fens, including eutrophic tall-herb fens and calcareous flushes and soaks | same |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 199905 | 54.2 | Rich fens | same |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1997 | 54.2 | Rich fens | same |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1996 | 54.2 | same | |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1993 | 54.2 | same | |
| CORINE Biotopes Classification 1991 | 54.2 | same | |
| CORINE Biotopes Classification 1989 | 54.2 | same |
