Shrub-carr is a wetland community dominated by tall shrubs such as red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), meadowsweet (Spiraea alba), and various willows (Salix spp.). Canada bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) is often very common. Associates are similar to those found in alder thickets and tussock-type sedge meadows. Shrub-carrs occupy areas that are transitional between open wetlands like wet prairies, calcareous fens, and southern sedge meadows, and forested wetlands such as floodplain forests and southern hardwood swamps. Shrub-carrs can persist at a given site for a very long time if natural hydrologic cycles are maintained. This type often occurs in bands around lakes or ponds, on the margins of river floodplains, or, more extensively, in glacial lakebeds. It is common and widespread in southern Wisconsin but also occurs in the north. In the south, shrub-carrs were often an integral part of prairie-savanna landscapes, though they also occurred in wetlands in more forested regions. In the north, the landscape matrix around the shrub-carr type was usually upland forest. Statewide, shrub-carrs remain quite common and have fared considerably better than many other native wetland communities in its range.
Past drainage and marsh hay mowing likely had a negative effect on shrub-carrs, whereas clearing of conifer swamps likely produced more of this habitat. Once fire was controlled and hay mowing was discontinued in lowland meadows, shrub-carrs likely increased in extent. Drainage of meadows and marshes has also allowed shrub-carr habitats to increase in some areas. As a result of wetland drainage and fire suppression, shrub-carrs now occupy many sites that formerly supported much more extensive marsh, wet meadow, prairie, and fen vegetation, and therefore, they are sometimes targeted for elimination. However, shrub-carr is an important native wetland type that has its place on our landscape and should be protected, managed, and restored at appropriate sites.
