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A fen is a type of wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
 fed by surface and/or groundwater. Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is neutral
PH

pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
 or alkali
Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
ne. Fens are different from bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s, which are acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic, fed primarily by rainwater (ombrotrophic
Ombrotrophic

Ombrotrophic refers to soil or vegetation which receive all of their water and nutrients from precipitation, rather than from streams or springs....
) and often dominated by Sphagnum
Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151-350 Specie of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and sphagnum peat moss, the decaying matter underneath....
 mosses.

word "fen" is derived from Old English fenn and is considered to have proto-Germanic origins, since it has cognates in Gothic
Gothic language

Gothic is an extinct language Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from Codex Argenteus, a 6th century copy of a 4th century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic languages with a sizable corpus....
 (fani), Old Frisian
Old Frisian

Old Frisian was the West Germanic languages spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries by the people who had settled in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast in the 4th and 5th centuries....
 (fenne), Dutch
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
 (veen) and German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 (Fenn(e), Venn, Vehn, Feen, Fehn).

was once thought to be a phase in the natural succession
Ecological succession

Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological Community ....
 from open lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
, through reedbed
Reed bed

Reed beds are a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuary. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground....
, fen and carr, to woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
, or as the peat develops and its surface rises, to bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
.






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Wicken Fen Hide
A fen is a type of wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
 fed by surface and/or groundwater. Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is neutral
PH

pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
 or alkali
Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
ne. Fens are different from bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s, which are acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic, fed primarily by rainwater (ombrotrophic
Ombrotrophic

Ombrotrophic refers to soil or vegetation which receive all of their water and nutrients from precipitation, rather than from streams or springs....
) and often dominated by Sphagnum
Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151-350 Specie of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and sphagnum peat moss, the decaying matter underneath....
 mosses.

Derivation

The word "fen" is derived from Old English fenn and is considered to have proto-Germanic origins, since it has cognates in Gothic
Gothic language

Gothic is an extinct language Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from Codex Argenteus, a 6th century copy of a 4th century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic languages with a sizable corpus....
 (fani), Old Frisian
Old Frisian

Old Frisian was the West Germanic languages spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries by the people who had settled in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast in the 4th and 5th centuries....
 (fenne), Dutch
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
 (veen) and German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 (Fenn(e), Venn, Vehn, Feen, Fehn).

Fen vegetation

Fen was once thought to be a phase in the natural succession
Ecological succession

Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological Community ....
 from open lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
, through reedbed
Reed bed

Reed beds are a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuary. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground....
, fen and carr, to woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
, or as the peat develops and its surface rises, to bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
. Now, it is more generally recognized that fens are persistent habitats whose existence is dependent on the availability of water.

Carr is the northern European equivalent of the wooded swamp
Swamp

A swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land, by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammock , or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation....
 of the south-eastern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It is a fen overgrown with generally small trees of species such as willow
Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
 (Salix spp.) or alder (Alnus spp.). A list of species found in a fen therefore covers a range from those remaining from the earlier stage in the successional development to the pioneers of the succeeding stage.

Fen also merges into freshwater marsh, when it develops more in the direction of grassland. This is most likely to occur where the tree species of carr are systematically removed by man for the development of pasture
Pasture

Pasture is land with herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses....
 (often together with drainage), or by browsing wild animals, including beaver
Beaver

Beavers are two primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic species of rodent, one native to North America and one to Eurasia. They are known for building dams, canals, and lodges ....
s.

The water in fens is usually from groundwater or flowing sources (minerotrophic
Minerotrophic

Minerotrophic refers to soils and vegetation whose water supply comes mainly from streams or springs. This water has flowed over or through rocks or other minerals, often acquiring dissolved chemicals which raise the nutrient levels and reduce the acidity....
) with a fairly high pH (base-rich, neutral to alkaline). Where the water is from rainwater or other sources with a lower pH (more acidic), fen is replaced by vegetation dominated by Sphagnum
Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151-350 Specie of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and sphagnum peat moss, the decaying matter underneath....
 mosses, known as bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
.

Where streams of base-rich water run through bog, these are often lined by strips of fen, separating "islands" of rain-fed bog.

List of fen flora species

The following is a list of plant species to be found in a north European fen with some attempt to distinguish between reed bed relicts and the carr pioneers. However, nature does not come in neat compartments so that for example, the odd stalk of common reed will be found in carr.

In pools
  • Beaked sedge; Carex rostrata
    Carex rostrata

    Bottle Sedge Stokes is a perennial species of plants in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic Kingdom fens....
  • Whorl grass; Catabrosa aquatica
  • Needle spike-rush; Eleocharis acicularis
    Eleocharis acicularis

    Eleocharis acicularis is a species of Eleocharis known by the common names needle spikerush and dwarf hairgrass. It has a Circumboreal Region distribution and it can also be found throughout the rest of the Americas....
  • Northern spike-rush; Eleocharis austriaca
  • Sweet grasses; Glyceria
    Glyceria

    Glyceria is a genus of Poaceae known commonly as mannagrass or sweet-grass. These are perennial Rhizome grasses found in wet areas in temperate regions worldwide....
     species.
  • Common reed; Phragmites australis
  • Swamp meadow grass; Poa palustris
    Poa palustris

    Poa palustris is a species of grass native to Asia, Europe and Northern America. This plant is used as fodder and Fodder, and it also used for erosion control or revegetation....


In typical fen
  • Flat sedge; Blysmus compressus
  • Great fen sedge; Cladium mariscus
  • Lesser tufted sedge; Carex acuta
    Carex acuta

    Carex acuta or Acute Sedge, Slender Tufted-sedge, Slim Sedge can be found growing on the margins of rivers and lakes in the Palearctic ecozone terrestrial ecoregions in beds of wet, Alkaline#Alkaline_soil or Alkaline soil Depression s with mineral soil....
  • Lesser pond sedge; Carex acutiformis
  • Davall's sedge; Carex davalliana
  • Dioecious sedge; Carex dioica
  • Brown sedge; Carex disticha
  • Tufted sedge; Carex elata
  • Slender sedge; Carex lasiocarpa
    Carex lasiocarpa

    Carex lasiocarpa is a species of Carex known by the common names slender sedge and woollyfruit sedge. This is an aquatic plant or shore plant of wet areas in mountainous areas of moderate elevation....
  • Flea sedge; Carex pulicaris
  • Greater pond sedge; Carex riparia
  • Common spike-rush; Eleocharis palustris
    Eleocharis palustris

    Eleocharis palustris Roem. & Schult. is a species of mat-forming perennial plants in the genus Eleocharis growing in wetlands throughout the Boreal Kingdom....
  • Few-flowered spike-rush; Eleocharis quinqueflora
    Eleocharis quinqueflora

    Eleocharis quinqueflora is a species of Eleocharis known by the common name fewflower spikerush. This plant has a Circumboreal Region distribution and is also found in the southern half of the United States, as well as Chile....
  • Slender spike-rush; Eleocharis uniglumis
  • Broad-leaved cotton sedge; Eriophorum latifolium
  • Reed sweet-grass; Glyceria maxima
    Glyceria maxima

    Glyceria maxima Holmb. is a species of rhizome perennial grasses in the Glyceria genus native to Europe and Western Siberia and growing in wet areas such as riverbanks and ponds....
  • Yellow flag iris; Iris pseudacorus
    Iris pseudacorus

    Iris pseudacorus is a species of iris , native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Common names include yellow iris and yellow flag....
  • Brown bog [sic] rush; Schoenus ferrugineus


In fen carr
  • Narrow small-reed; Calamagrostis stricta
    Calamagrostis stricta

    Calamagrostis stricta Koeler is a species of grass in the Poaceae family, native to wetlands of the Holarctic Kingdom....
  • Purple small-reed; Calamagrostis canescens
    Calamagrostis canescens

    Calamagrostis canescens Roth is a species of grass in the Poaceae family, native to Europe and Western Siberia....
  • Tussock sedge; Carex paniculata
  • Cyperus sedge; Carex pseudocyperus
  • Wood club rush; Scirpus sylvaticus


See also

  • Bayou
    Bayou

    A bayou is a small, slow-moving stream or creek, or a lake or pool that lies in an abandoned channel of a stream. Bayous are usually located in relatively flat, low-lying areas, for example, in the Mississippi River River delta region of the southern United States....
  • Biodiversity Action Plan
    Biodiversity Action Plan

    This article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A 'Biodiversity Action Plan' is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems....
  • Bog
    Bog

    A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
  • Fenland (disambiguation)
    Fenland (disambiguation)

    Fenland may mean:* Fenland, or the Fens, an area of low-lying land in eastern England** Fenland, a local authority district in Cambridgeshire, England, forming part of the Fens...
  • Poor fen
    Poor fen

    A poor fen is a natural wetland habitat, consisting of dense low growth of small Cyperaceaes and other plants. It develops on wet ground where the water is fairly acidic and has very few Plant nutrition....
  • Marsh
    Marsh

    In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
  • Mesopotamian Marshes
    Mesopotamian Marshes

    The Mesopotamian Marshes are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq bordering Iran. Historically the marshlands, comprised of the Central Marshes , Huwaizah Marshes and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia....
 
  • Salt marsh
  • Slough
    Slough (wetland)

    The word slough has several meanings related to wetland or aquatic features.The etymology is related to the Dutch word 'slechten' = to lower, to cut, to destroy....
  • Swamp
    Swamp

    A swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land, by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammock , or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation....
  • The Fens
    The Fens

    The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom.The Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into two Government regions , four ceremonial counties , 11 District Councils and five postcode areas ....
  • Wetland
    Wetland

    File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....


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