Scrub Shrub Wetland

The landscape that you can witness here is defined as scrub shrub wetland. This is wetland habitat that is dominated by woody vegetation, shrubs and trees, no taller than 20 feet tall. The vegetation here sometimes remains small because it is stunted due to environmental conditions (wet, acidic soils). Sometimes scrub shrub habitat is a successional stage leading to forested wetlands, other times it is a relatively stable community. On the refuge, this habitat represents nearly 29,000 acres or 28% of the total land cover. Common vegetation includes: tag alder, willow, red osier dogwood, meadowsweet, current, bedstraw, joe-pye-weed, goldenrod, and marsh fern.