B2: Very High Biodiversity Significance
This site was visited during our Hinsdale County wetland survey, and features a small, isolated fen wetland in the La Garita Wilderness. The site is a closed-basin, lake-fill peatland with multiple small inlets and rivulets throughout, and has a large area of floating mat towards the center and grounded peat accumulations along edges. The fen supports an excellent (A-ranked) occurrence of the globally imperiled (G2/S1S2) mud sedge (Carex limosa) montane wetland community, as well as a good (B-ranked) occurrence of the globally vulnerable (G3/S3) woolly sedge (Carex pellita) montane wet meadows community. These two herbaceous communities form a mosaic where Carex limosa dominates the central floating mat, covering approximately 35% of the wetland, and Carex pellita dominates the surrounding extensive area of grounded peat mat. Uplands to the west of the wetland grade to steep talus slopes and those to the east have mixed quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) forest that slopes down towards Mineral Creek.
