More info for the terms: association, bog, fern, marsh, natural, shrub
Douglas' spirea occurs mainly in riparian habitats such as swamps, mud
flats, shrub carrs, marshes, bogs, and along streams [8,17,18,23,44].
In British Columbia Douglas' spirea is found in rush (Juncus spp.)-sedge
(Carex spp.)-quillwort (Isoetes spp.) and shrub carr community types
[8,18]. Common associates include Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum),
Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), salal
(Gaultheria shallon), sweet gale (Myrica gale), and bog rush (Juncus
effusus) [2,28].
In Washington a Douglas' spirea-bog blueberry (Vaccinium
uliginosum)/sedge community type is described. Common associates
include swordleaf rush (Juncus ensifolius), blister sedge (Carex
vesicaria), Sitka sedge (C. sitchensis), slough sedge (C. obnupta),
common willowweed (Epilobium glandulosum), and kneeling angelica
(Angelica genuflexa) [19]. Douglas' spirea is also a member of a field
horsetail (Equisetum arvense)-skunkcabbage (Veratrum californicum) swamp
association. Associates include Sitka alder (Alnus viridis ssp.
sinuata), black twinberry (Lonicera involucrata), and red-osier dogwood
(Cornus sericea) [16].
Associates of Douglas' spirea in Washington and Oregon forest commuities
include dwarf huckleberry (Vaccinium caespitosum), blue wildrye (Elymus
glaucus), deer fern (Blechnum spicant), bracken fern (Pteridium
aquilinum), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), widefruit sedge
(Carex eurycarpa), Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii), and bristly black currant
(Ribes lacustre) [12,29,30].
In California Douglas' spirea occurs in sphagnum bog, north coast
riparian scrub, and freshwater marsh communities [23,44]. Common
associates include bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), Pacific wax-myrtle
(Myrica californica), Hooker willow (Salix hookeriana), Hinds willow (S.
hindsiana), sedge (Carex spp.), bear sedge (C. arcta), round-leaved
sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), and coast Labrador tea (Ledum glandulosum
var. columbiana) [23,44].
In eastern Idaho and western Montana, Douglas' spirea is dominant in
herbaceous wetland communities [41,42]. In Montana a Douglas' spirea
community type has been described [4,17]. Douglas' spirea is dominant
in a thinleaf alder community type [4]. Common associates in Montana
include Booth willow (Salix boothii), Geyer willow (S. geyeriana),
Wood's rose, western polemonium (Polemonium occidentale), beaked sedge
(Carex rostrata), inflated sedge (C. vesicaria), reed canarygrass
(Phalaris arundinacea), and creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera)
[4,17].
The following publications list Douglas' spirea as a community dominant:
Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in
northwestern Montana [4]
Riparian dominance types of Montana [17]
Plant association and management guide: Willamette National Forest [19]
Riparian zone associations: Deschutes, Ochoco, Fremont, and Winema
National Forests [29]
Classification of aquatic and semiaquatic wetland natural areas in Idaho
and western Montana [41]
Management of riparian vegetation in the northcoast region of
California's coastal zone [44]