Carex bigelowii

{{Speciesbox

|image = Carex bigelowii.JPG

|status = G5

|status_system = TNC

|status_ref = {{cite web |url = http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Carex+bigelowii |title = Carex bigelowii - Torr. ex Schwein. |work = NatureServe Explorer |date = July 2012 |access-date = December 15, 2012 |publisher = NatureServe}}

|taxon = Carex bigelowii

|authority = Torr. ex Schwein.

|synonyms =

Carex concolor
Carex consimilis
Carex rigida

}}

Carex bigelowii is a species of sedge known by the common names Bigelow's sedge,{{PLANTS|id=CABI5|taxon=Carex bigelowii|accessdate=10 January 2016}} Gwanmo sedge,{{cite book |editor1-last=Lee |editor1-first=Sangtae |editor2-last=Chang |editor2-first=Kae Sun |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |year=2015 |publisher=Korea National Arboretum |location=Pocheon |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |page=389 |url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |access-date=12 March 2019 |via=Korea Forest Service}} and stiff sedge.{{BSBI 2007 |accessdate=2014-10-17 }} It has an Arctic–alpine distribution in Eurasia and North America, and grows up to {{convert|50|cm}} tall in a variety of habitats.

Distribution

Carex bigelowii has a circumpolar{{cite book |author1=Peter W. Ball |author2=A. A. Reznicek |chapter=Carex bigelowii Torrey ex Schweinitz |year=2003 |editor=Flora of North America Editorial Committee |title=Cyperaceae |volume=23 |series=Flora of North America |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195152074 |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357077}} or circumboreal distribution,{{cite web |author=Robin F. Matthews |year=1992 |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/carbig/all.html |title=Carex bigelowii |work=Fire Effects Information System |publisher=USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory |access-date=December 17, 2012}} occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is present in Europe, Asia and North America, where it occurs from Alaska to Greenland,{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1158895781|title=Nordens flora|date=2020|publisher=Gyldendal|others=Bo Mossberg, Lennart Stenberg, Jon Feilberg, Anna Torsteinsrud, Victoria Widmark|isbn=978-87-02-28916-9|edition=Nye, udvidede og omarbejdede udgave|location=Kbh.|oclc=1158895781}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/183098604|title=Grønlands flora|date=1978|publisher=P. Haase & Sons|others=Tyge Wittrock Böcher|isbn=87-559-0385-1|edition=3. reviderede udgave|location=København|oclc=183098604}} and in alpine climates as far south as Utah and Colorado.

Description

Carex bigelowii produces 3-angled stems up to {{convert|50|cm|ft}} tall, growing in a tuft or singly. The leaves are stiff and dark green, and the leaves of previous seasons may remain on the plant. The inflorescence is accompanied by a short bract. The inflorescence has 1–3 black pistillate spikes under 1–2 staminate spikes. The plant usually reproduces vegetatively, sprouting tillers from its rhizome. It also spreads via stolons. It has a thick root network that allows it to form a turf, and the roots may grow {{convert|80|cm|ft|abbr=on}} deep in the soil.{{cite web |author=Melanie Schori |year=2004 |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/wildlife/tes/ca-overview/docs/Carex%20bigelowii%20CA.pdf |title=Conservation assessment for Bigelow's sedge (Carex bigelowii) Torr. |publisher=USDA Forest Service Eastern Region |access-date=December 17, 2011}} The plant sometimes reproduces sexually, producing seeds, which can remain viable for 200 years.

Ecology

Carex bigelowii grows in many types of Arctic and alpine habitat. It occurs in forest, bog, meadows and tundra. It occurs alongside plants such as willows (Salix spp.), dwarf arctic birch (Betula nana), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), bog blueberry (V. uliginosum), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), northern Labrador tea (Ledum palustre), American green alder (Alnus crispa), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina), varileaf cinquefoil (Potentilla diversifolia), elephanthead lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica), white mountain avens (Dryas octopetala), entireleaf mountain avens (D. integrifolia), alpine timothy (Phleum alpinum), alpine rush (Juncus alpinoarticulatus) and tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum), as well as feathermosses (Hylocomium and Aulacomium spp.), lichens (Cladonia and Cladina spp.), and sphagnum mosses. In Scotland, particularly on Glas Maol, this sedge is codominant with the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum in a heath ecosystem, the British NVC community U10.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2004.09.016 |title=Changes in the composition of Carex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath on Glas Maol, Scotland, in response to sheep grazing and snow fencing |year=2005 |author1=David Welch |author2=David Scott |author3=Des B. A. Thompson |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=621–631|url=https://zenodo.org/record/889750 }} The sedge is also associated with this moss on lava fields in Iceland.{{cite journal |author1=B. Olle Jonsson |author2=Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir |author3=Nils Cronberg |year=1996 |title=Clonal Diversity and allozyme variation in populations of the Arctic sedge Carex bigelowii (Cyperaceae) |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=449–459 |doi=10.2307/2261206 |jstor=2261206}}

Carex bigelowii can colonize disturbed habitat. It has been noted to grow at oil spill sites within two months of the disturbance, and it grows alongside the Dempster Highway in northwestern Canada. Its long-lasting soil seed bank allows it to sprout after the soil is disturbed, and the rhizomes may prevent erosion.

Carex bigelowii

Distribution

Description

Ecology

References

Further reading