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5.0 BIOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES <br />5.1 Botanical Aspects <br />The botanical characteristics of Colorado peatlands are a <br />function of the particular moisture and nutrient relations <br />present at each site. The following description of those <br />characteristics includes information from the literature and <br />information gained from several general surveys of sites in Park <br />County. One literature source of particular usefulness is <br />Windell et al. 1986. Dr. David Cooper of the Colorado School of <br />Mines has evaluated several of the Park County sites and will be <br />presenting that information in a report to the Park County <br />Council on Environmental quality in the late spring of 1990. <br />In Colorado, peatlands are characteristically vegetated by <br />either sedges and reeds, or low shrubs. Sedge and reed - dominated <br />peatlands are the true fens, whereas shrub - dominated peatlands <br />are termed carrs (Stanek and Worley 1983; Cooper 1986). In <br />general, fens occur on sites with higher water tables, whereas <br />those in carrs tend to be somewhat lower. Probably as a result, <br />fens tend to have thicker peat accumulations than do carrs <br />(Cooper 1989). It should be noted here that while not all carrs <br />occur on organic soils ( Windell et al. 1986), all fens, by <br />definition, occur on organic soils. <br />Carex, Juncus, Eleocharis, Deschampsia, and CalamaQrostis <br />are the �-Iominant species of vegetation in Colorado fens. These <br />• 45 <br />