CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Damman, A.W.H.; and Dowhan, J.J.
Date : 1981
Title : Vegetation and Habitat Conditions in Western Head Bog, a Southern Nova Scotian Plateau Bog
Publication : Canadian Journal of Botany
Issue : 59(7):
Page(s) : 1343-1359.
Abstract
The southernmost plateau bogs in eastern North America are found in southern Nova Scotia. They are characterized by an extremely wet plateau with high conical hummocks, a partly forested bog slope, and several disjunct species of the Coastal Plain flora. Prevailing water levels on the plateau are high and fluctuate little. They do not start to drop until very close to the plateau margin, and are lowest on the forested parts of the slope. The lagg is wet and has the most strongly fluctuating water levels. Water table location, and thus microtopography of the surface, controls the vegetation pattern of the plateau. A Gaylussacia baccata dwarf shrub heath occupies hummocks 25 cm or more above the 50% summer water table. Utricularia mud bottoms are regularly flooded in summer and the water table never drops more than 5 cm below the surface. The two Scirpus lawn communities occupy an intermediate position. A complex gradient, involving both water level and nutrient regime, controls vegetation changes from the center to the bog border.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology