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Geologic and Geomorphic Controls on the Occurrence of Fens in the Oregon Cascades and Implications for Vulnerability and Conservation

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Abstract

Montane fens are biologically diverse peat-forming wetlands that develop at points of groundwater discharge. To protect these ecosystems, it is critical to understand their locations on the landscape and the hydrogeologic systems that support them. The upper Deschutes Basin has a groundwater flow system that supports baseflow in many rivers, but little is known about the wetland types and groundwater dependence of the thousands of wetlands within the watershed. In 292 randomly selected wetlands, we quantified landscape metrics thought useful for discriminating montane fens from non-peat-forming wetlands. We inspected these wetlands and classified 67 of them as fens. Of the landscape metrics, only geology reliably differentiated fens from other types of wetlands. Nearly all fens develop in low-permeability glacial till found at approximately 1400–1800 m in elevation, and are concentrated in areas mantled by pumice deposits that originated primarily from the eruption of Mt. Mazama approximately 7700 years BP. Stratigraphic and hydrologic factors indicate the fens are supplied by perched aquifers in glacial till, instead of the deeper regional aquifer system. Their hydrogeologic setting makes the fens highly vulnerable to expected changes to recharge associated with climate change, but not to groundwater pumping from the regional aquifer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Bella Vista Foundation and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. The authors would like to thank Leslie Bach, Tom Josephson, Sara Wyland, Emilie Blevins, and Shonene Scott from The Nature Conservancy for field and GIS assistance and manuscript review; Rick Dewey and Jason Gritzner from the USDA Forest Service for historic data and site access; Dave Sherrod from the USGS Cascade volcano Observatory and Ken Lite with the Oregon Water Resources Department for helpful discussions on the geology and groundwater hydrology of the Cascades; Tiffany Napier for help with pumice sample processing and identification; and Ken Lite, Judy Drexler, Leslie Bach, Steve Sebestyen, and two anonymous reviewers for review of the manuscript

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Nature Conservancy, 821 SE 14th Ave, Portland, OR, 97212, USA

    Allison R. Aldous

  2. U.S. Geological Survey Oregon Water Science Center, 2130 SW Fifth Ave., Portland, OR, 97205, USA

    Marshall W. Gannett, Mackenzie Keith & Jim O’Connor

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  1. Allison R. Aldous
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Correspondence to Allison R. Aldous.

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Appendix 1

Indicator plant species. (DOCX 18 kb)

Appendix 2

Generalized geologic units, summarized from Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (2013). (DOCX 19 kb)

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Aldous, A.R., Gannett, M.W., Keith, M. et al. Geologic and Geomorphic Controls on the Occurrence of Fens in the Oregon Cascades and Implications for Vulnerability and Conservation. Wetlands 35, 757–767 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-015-0667-x

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