Ribes triste

More info for the term: swamp

Swamp red currant is native to North America and is also found in northeast Asia [2,30,39,50,82]. It occurs from  Alaska to Newfoundland, south to Virginia, and west along the northern tier of states to Oregon, excluding Idaho [39,67,74,82]. Distributional information about the infrataxa of swamp red currant is currently unavailable. Plants Database provides a distributional map of swamp red currant.

(key to state/province abbreviations)
UNITED STATES AK CT IL ME MA MI MN MT NH NJ NY ND OH OR PA SD VT VA WA WV WI
CANADA AB BC MB NB NF NT NS NU ON PE PQ SK YK

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [10]:

1 Northern Pacific Border

2 Cascade Mountains

5 Columbia Plateau

8 Northern Rocky Mountains

16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands

Ribes altissimum Turcz. ex Pojark.:
Mongolia (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
China (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Ribes triste Pall.:
Canada (North America)
Japan (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
South Korea (Asia)
United States (North America)
China (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

N Xinjiang (Burqin Xian, Fuhai Xian) [N Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].

Heilongjiang, E Jilin, SE Liaoning, E Nei Mongol [Japan, Korea, Russia; North America].

Canada

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Global Range: AK to Newf., south to OR, SD, and VA; Asia. Peripheral.

More info for the terms: root crown, shrub, swamp

This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available [2,20,30,32,39]

Swamp red currant is a low, straggling shrub [30,42,50,50,67,71,74,82,83], 1.3 to 3.2 feet (0.4-1.0 m) tall [2,32,50,71]. Stems are reclining [32,67,83] and branches layer at lower nodes [32,42,50,71,82]. Leaves are alternate, simple, 3- to 5-lobed [2,32,50,74,82], and softly hairy beneath [2,30,74]. The inflorescence is a 5- to 20-flowered drooping raceme [30,32,50,74,82], saucer-like [30,83], and 1.2 to 3.5 inches (3-9 cm) long [2,32]. Fruits are berries, 0.2 to 0.4 inch (0.6-1.0 cm) long [32,50,82], globose [32,74], smooth [13,32,71,74], and many-seeded [32]. Seeds are oval, flattened, 0.08 to 0.12 inch long, 0.08 inch wide and 0.08 inch thick [74]. Swamp red currant probably has a root crown [37] similar to other Ribes spp.; however, information on this subject was unavailable in the literature.

Shrubs (1-)2-3 m tall. Branchlets glabrous, rarely sparsely shortly glandular hairy, unarmed. Buds brown, ovoid to narrowly so, pubescent, apex obtuse or acute. Petiole 3-5 cm, glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent or shortly glandular hairy; leaf blade suborbicular, 3-6 cm, glabrous, sometimes sparsely shortly stalked glandular along veins abaxially, base cordate; lobes 3-5, ovate-triangular, margin deeply and sharply doubly serrate, sometimes with some simple teeth, apex obtuse or acute; terminal lobe equaling or slightly longer than lateral ones. Racemes slightly pendulous, 3-8 cm, 10-25-flowered; rachis and pedicels pubescent and shortly stalked glandular; bracts broadly ovate, margin sparsely glandular hairy. Flowers bisexual, 4-5 mm in diam.; pedicel 1-3 mm. Calyx yellowish, often spotted purple, glabrous; tube campanulate, 1.5-2.5 mm; lobes reflexed, subligulate to narrowly obovate, 1.5-2.5 mm, margin ciliate. Petals subflabellate to obovate, 0.8-1.5 mm. Stamens inserted below petals and subequaling them. Ovary glabrous. Style broadly conical, apex 2-lobed. Fruit purplish black, subglobose, 0.5-0.7 cm, glabrous. Fl. Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

Shrubs low, almost creeping, to 0.4 m tall, rarely erect to 0.8 m tall. Branchlets spreading, glabrous or puberulent when young, unarmed. Buds brown, ovoid, 4-6 mm, sparsely pubescent, apex acute. Petiole (1.5-)3-6 cm, puberulent, scattered stalked glandular; leaf blade reniform to orbicular-reniform, 3-6 × 4-7(-8) cm, glabrous or pubescent along veins abaxially, base shallowly cordate or subtruncate; lobes 3(-5), broadly triangular, margin coarsely sharply serrate, apex obtuse; terminal lobe slightly longer than lateral ones. Racemes pendent, lax, 2-4 cm, (3-)5-7-flowered; rachis and pedicels pubescent and sparsely glandular hairy; bracts ovate-orbicular, rarely oblong, 1.5-2 mm. Flowers bisexual; pedicel 2.5-4 mm. Calyx purple, glabrous; tube shallowly cupular to subpelviform; lobes erect, purple or red tinged yellowish green, spatulate-orbicular, 1.5-2.5 mm. Petals red or purple, subflabellate to obovate or square, sometimes subcuneate, 0.7-1.3 mm. Stamens subequaling petals. Ovary glabrous. Style stout, subequaling stamens, deeply divided for ca. 1/2 its length or more. Fruit red, ovoid, 0.7-1 cm in diam., glabrous. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug.

There are many species of RIBES; a technical manual and hand lens are required for positive identification. R. HUDSONIANUM, the other native species with unarmed stems and saucer-shaped flowers, has a glandular calyx.

More info for the terms: peat, swamp

Swamp red currant is found growing in rich, damp, and poorly-drained deciduous and coniferous woods [20,62,67,71,83], margins of bogs [30,32,50,71,74], lakeshores [74], and stream banks [42,71]. Swamp red currant is a plant indicator for the white spruce/balsam fir forest type in the Lake States [68].

Elevation: Swamp red currant grows from the lowlands to timberline in Alaska [42]. Further information about elevation is unavailable.

Soil: Swamp red currant grows in well-drained to somewhat poorly-drained moist to wet soil [13,32,39,47,50,74,83]. In the lowlands of northern Wisconsin, it can be found growing in black spruce bogs composed of peat moss, with a pH of 4.5, and in northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) swamps composed of compacted coarse wood peat [14]. In the white spruce-flood plain habitat of Alaska, swamp red currant grows on well-drained alluvial soils [23]. In mixed-boreal forest types in southwest Quebec, it is more commonly found on clay than till deposits [51].

Climate: Climate varies throughout the range of swamp red currant. In Canada and Alaska, swamp red currant grows in cool, humid microthermal climates with cold, dry winters and warm, wet summers [21,24]. In southern Alaska, it grows in maritime climates on ocean-facing slopes [40]. In the Lake States, swamp red currant grows in a continental climate [31,62].

More info for the terms: codominant, cover

Swamp red currant is listed as a codominant in the following cover and habitat
types:

Alberta

White spruce (Picea glauca)- quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)/swamp
red currant cover type [49]

North America

Prickly rose (Rosa acicularis)-swamp red currant/naked miterwort (Mitella
nuda)-tall bluebells (Mertensia paniculata) habitat type in boreal
white spruce-balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and black spruce (Picea
mariana) forests [48].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the term: cover

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [69]:

411 Aspen woodland

ALASKAN RANGELANDS

901 Alder

904 Black spruce-lichen

905 Bluejoint reedgrass

920 White spruce-paper birch

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: cover

SAF COVER TYPES [25]:

1 Jack pine

5 Balsam fir

12 Black spruce

16 Aspen

18 Paper birch

23 Eastern hemlock

24 Hemlock-yellow birch

25 Sugar maple-beech-yellow birch

26 Sugar maple-basswood

27 Sugar maple

30 Red spruce-yellow birch

31 Red spruce-sugar maple-beech

32 Red spruce

33 Red spruce-balsam fir

35 Paper birch-red spruce-balsam fir

38 Tamarack

39 Black ash-American elm-red maple

57 Yellow-poplar

58 Yellow-poplar-eastern hemlock

59 Yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak

60 Beech-sugar maple

107 White spruce

108 Red maple

201 White spruce

202 White spruce-paper birch

203 Balsam poplar

204 Black spruce

217 Aspen

218 Lodgepole pine

251 White spruce-aspen

252 Paper birch

253 Black spruce-white spruce

254 Black spruce-paper birch

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: bog

KUCHLER [46] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

K093 Great Lakes spruce-fir forest

K094 Conifer bog

K095 Great Lakes pine forest

K096 Northeastern spruce-fir forest

K099 Maple-basswood forest

K102 Beech-maple forest

K106 Northern hardwoods

K107 Northern hardwoods-fir forest

K108 Northern hardwoods-spruce forest

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

ECOSYSTEMS [28]:

FRES10 White-red-jack pine

FRES11 Spruce-fir

FRES18 Maple-beech-birch

FRES19 Aspen-birch

FRES26 Lodgepole pine

Coniferous or mixed forests and forest margins on mountain slopes; below 2000 m.

Coniferous or mixed forests, forest margins, mossy rocky slopes; 1000-1500 m.

More info for the terms: fire severity, fuel, root crown, severity, swamp

The response of swamp red currant to fire depends on fire severity, habitat type, and fuel load. With a root crown and seeds stored in the soil, swamp red currant is able to withstand low- to moderate-severity fire [41,61,85], and occasionally, severe fire [80]. More data on the effects of prescribed burning on swamp red currant are needed.

More info for the terms: cover, duff, fire severity, frequency, importance value, litter, prescribed burn, relative dominance, relative frequency, severity, swamp, tree

Ohmann and others [61] classified and described upland plant communities resulting from fires 33
years previously in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northeastern Minnesota. From 1936-1966, 155
wildfires occurred. The researchers sampled 14 areas that were 5 acres (2 ha) or larger and were
left unlogged or partially logged. Swamp red currant was found in aspen-paper birch communities and
in paper birch communities [61]:

 Presence in stands (%)Average frequency in sample plots within stands (%)Average cover (%)Average relative frequency (%)Average relative dominance (%)Average importance value (%)Commonness index (presence x frequency)Quaking aspen-paper birch community111<1%<1%<1%<1%12Paper birch community131<1%1<1%116

The effects of fire and spruce beetles were studied by Holsten and others [41] in white spruce forests
within the Resurrection Creek watershed of the Chugach National Forest, Alaska. In 1980, 30 plots were
established to monitor changes in species richness and diversity of understory vegetation as a result of
spruce beetle-caused mortality of white spruce. The plots were remeasured annually for the first 5 years
and again in 1985 and 1991. In June, 1984, a prescribed burn was conducted on 1,507 acres (610 ha) of the
watershed to provide browse habitat for moose. Seventeen of the original 30 plots were within the burn. The
burn consumed all overstory and understory vegetation and exposed mineral soil in a few cases. Eleven years
following prescribed burning, the frequency and cover of swamp red currant decreased to 0% on the burned and
unburned plots. Since this response was observed on both burned and unburned plots, it does not necessarily
prove that swamp red currant is negatively affected by fire [41]:

 Burned plots (n=17) Unburned plots (n=13)1980 (preburn)1991(postburn)19801991Frequency (%)6080Cover (%)13020

Viereck and Dyrness [80] studied the development of vegetation following the 1971 Wickersham Dome Fire
near Fairbanks, Alaska, which burned 15,570 acres (6,300 ha) of predominantly black spruce forest. Data
were collected for 3 years following the fire. Swamp red currant was present in quaking aspen stands 1
and 3 years following a "heavy burn," which was defined as >90-95% of the area blackened;
lesser vegetation and tree crowns were consumed. The largest percent cover and frequency of red swamp
currant occurred 3 years following the burn. No data were reported for swamp red currant on control plots
[80]:

197219731974Cover (%).050.65Frequency (%)5035

The effects of fire severity on the early development of understory vegetation in boreal mixedwood
stands was studied on the 1999 Black River Fire in southeastern Manitoba. Before the burn, stands
consisted of quaking aspen and a mixture of balsam fir, white spruce, black spruce and (or) jack pine
and the stands had not burned for 70 years. Understory vegetation recovery was studied on four 12 to
25 acre (5-10 ha) plots from 1999-2002. Three fire severity classes were assigned: (1) scorched, litter
not burned or partially burned; (2) lightly burned, with or without very limited duff consumption; and
(3) severely burned, forest floor completely consumed, and organic matter in soil horizon may be partially
consumed. Swamp red currant was most prevalent in the scorched plots, where seed and crowns were probably
least damaged. According to Wang and Kemball [85], scorching alone would probably not be sufficient to
stimulate germination of swamp red currant. The mean percent cover and frequency over the 4 postfire years
for swamp red currant was as follows [85]:

 ScorchedLightly burnedSeverely burnedCover (%)0.2<0.10Frequency (%)320

More info for the terms: root crown, severity, swamp

Postfire response of swamp red currant is related to severity and intensity of the fire. Wright [86] claims that germination of the seeds of Ribes spp. is stimulated by fire, but provides no data. Swamp red currant may also regenerate via a root crown [37]; however, no specific information on this is topic is available in the literature. Swamp red currant regenerates via seeds stored in the soil [37,85].

More info for the term: swamp

Fire that burns the organic soil probably severely damages or kills swamp red currant; however, no research on this subject is available in the literature.

More info for the terms: adventitious, crown residual colonizer, secondary colonizer, shrub

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [75]:
Small shrub, adventitious bud/root crown
Crown residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)

More info for the terms: fuel, lichens, root crown, swamp

Fire adaptations: Swamp red currant may regenerate via a root crown [37], based on general patterns of asexual regeneration by woody species; however, information specific to swamp red currant is not available in the literature. The seeds of swamp red currant are stored in the soil [37,85].

FIRE REGIMES: Coniferous forests of interior Alaska are particularly liable to destruction by fire due to long hours of sunshine during the summer, low precipitation, and high air temperatures. Heavy growth of lichens and mosses provide fuel for fires in the summer when very dry. Fires were set by Native Americans in early times to increase the quality of hunting, as a means to communicate, and as smudge fires for relief from mosquitoes. By 1896, gold was discovered by settlers, increasing the population dramatically. Between 1898 and 1940, an average of at least 1 million acres (404,687 ha) was burned each year, mainly due to highway and railroad construction, as well as to increase grass for forage, to kill mosquitoes and to make prospecting easier [55].

Fires were common in areas of the temperate forests of the northeastern United States where swamp red currant occurs before European settlers arrived. Native Americans used fire for more than 1,000 years to clear land and drive game, maintaining a mosaic of seral stages. Fires may have burned at intervals of 3 years or less on dry forest sites and intervals of 100 years on wetter forested sites where swamp red currant is found. After European settlers arrived, fire was used to clear land to encourage quick growth of grass for livestock. Over time, states attempted to control fire. Since the 1950s, fire has has become relatively rare in spruce-fir forests of the northeastern United States [53].

The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where red swamp currant is important. For further information, see the FEIS review of the dominant species listed below.

Community or ecosystem Dominant species Fire return interval range (years) maple-beech Acer-Fagus spp. 684-1,385 [16,84] sugar maple Acer saccharum >1,000 sugar maple-basswood Acer saccharum-Tilia americana >1,000 [84] birch Betula spp. 80-230 [76] beech-sugar maple Fagus spp.-Acer saccharum >1,000 black ash Fraxinus nigra 84] tamarack Larix laricina 35-200 [63] yellow-poplar Liriodendron tulipifera <35 [84] Great Lakes spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35 to >200 northeastern spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35-200 black spruce Picea mariana 35-200 conifer bog* Picea mariana-Larix laricina 35-200 red spruce* Picea rubens 35-200 [22] jack pine Pinus banksiana 16,22] Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine* Pinus contorta var. latifolia 25-340 [5,6,77] red pine (Great Lakes region) Pinus resinosa 3-18 ( x=10) [15,27] red-white pine* (Great Lakes region) Pinus resinosa-P. strobus 3-200 [16,36,54] eastern white pine-eastern hemlock Pinus strobus-Tsuga canadensis 35-200 [84] quaking aspen-paper birch Populus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera 35-200 [22,84] quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains) Populus tremuloides 7-120 [3,33,58] eastern hemlock-yellow birch Tsuga canadensis-Betula alleghaniensis 100-240 [76,84] *fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species review

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More info for the terms: climax, cover, frequency, hardwood, succession, swamp

Swamp red currant is shade-tolerant [26,47] and occurs from pioneer to climax stages across its range [8,9,29,31,45,55,70,81].

In Itasca County, Minnesota, swamp red currant was found growing in the pioneer stage of a highland hardwood burn of unknown intensity. Before the burn, climax hardwoods included balsam fir, basswood (Tilia americana), red oak (Quercus rubra), sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) [31].

In interior Alaska, swamp red currant occurred in an early postfire successional stage dominated by paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and in a climax community dominated by white spruce. The intensity of the fires is unknown [55].

In mixed-boreal forests of eastern Canada, swamp red currant grows in early successional stages. It was found growing in the 1st postfire successional stage, dominated by quaking aspen, paper birch, and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and the 2nd postfire successional stage, dominated by balsam fir and northern white-cedar [8,9].

In boreal black spruce forests of British Columbia, swamp red currant occurs in a mid-seral stage dominated by black and white spruce and meadow horsetail (Equisetum pratense) [45].

In western Labrador, Simon and Schwab [70] measured the abundance of swamp red currant on black spruce sites that burned 2, 18, and 40 years ago, as well as 80 and 140-year-old dry and wet nonburned sites. Swamp red currant reached the highest abundance on the oldest, wet sites. These sites were dominated by paper birch, with water that continuously seeped through the soil [70]:

Age of site (years) 2 18 40 80 140 dry site 140 wet site

Abundance (mean canopy volume m³)

1.84 0.41 0.00 0.00 0.15 7.88

In northern Michigan, swamp red currant occurred in the American beech (Fagus grandifolia)/sugar maple successional stage 20-25 years following fire of unknown intensity in a quaking aspen forest [29].

In 5 Chena River stands in the boreal forest of interior Alaska, swamp red currant was present in late stages of succession [81]:

Cover type Alaska willow (Salix alaxensis) (0-50 years old) Balsam poplar  (50 years old) White spruce (120 years old) White spruce/black spruce (200 years old) Black spruce/Sphagnum spp. (120 years old) Frequency (%) 0 0 30 80 10 Cover (%) 0 0 2 3 1

More info for the terms: layering, monoecious, perfect, root crown, swamp

Swamp red currant probably regenerates vegetatively [37]; however, information specific to swamp red currant was not available in the literature. Swamp red currant regenerates from seed [37,85].

Pollination: Flowers of Ribes spp. are often wind pollinated [64].

Breeding system: Flowers of swamp red currant are perfect [66] which makes swamp red current monoecious.

Seed production: Ribes spp. generally produce seeds when 3 to 5 years old [7]

Seed dispersal: Seeds of Ribes spp. are dispersed almost entirely by mammals and birds during the summer and fall [64].

Seed banking: The seeds of Ribes spp. remain viable in the soil for "long periods of time" [56,64,72,73].

Germination: Wright [86] claims that the germination of the seeds of Ribes spp. are stimulated by fire, but provides no data. Seeds normally germinate in the spring following dispersal [64].

In a study by Nichols [60], 100 swamp red currant seeds were planted in sterilized soil and placed outdoors in a cold frame for a refrigeration period of 71 to 112 days. Another box of 100 seeds was kept in a greenhouse and germination rates were compared. The number of germinating swamp red currant seeds was greater and quicker without refrigeration [60]:

  Number of seeds germinating Number of days required for germination After refrigeration 69 169-277 Without refrigeration 73 41-125

Seedling establishment/growth: No information is available on this topic.

Asexual regeneration: Heinselman [37] states that woody genera regenerate asexually via a root crown; however, he does not specifically mention Ribes spp. Swamp red currant does regenerate by layering [32,42,50,71,82].

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

RAUNKIAER [65] LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

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Swamp red currant flowers from May to June in the northern Great Plains [32,50,74] and Alaska [82], and June to July in the northeastern United States and Canada [30]. Fruits mature from June to July in the northern Great Plains [50] and July to August in Ontario [71] and Alaska [82].

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Specimens with Barcodes: 9
Species With Barcodes: 1

Swamp red currant is listed as endangered in Connecticut and Ohio and threatened in Pennsylvania [78]. More information on the state-level protected status of plants in the United States is available at Plants Database.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

More info for the terms: cover, density, frequency, hardwood, shrub, swamp, wildfire

Silviculture:
Very dense understories of balsam fir and northern white-cedar suppress the growth of Ribes species
[4].

Following clearcutting and shelterwood cutting in white spruce floodplain habitat on Willow Island in the
Tanana River near Fairbanks, Alaska, the percent cover and percent frequency of swamp red currant either
returned to precut amounts or increased [23]:

TreatmentControlPostclearcutPostshelterwood cut (14 m spacing)Postshelterwood cut (9 m spacing)Year Year 1Year 2Year 1Year 2Year 1Year 2Cover (%)0.1<0.1.1.1.1.1.2Frequency (%)841358515

Yarie and Mead [87] developed biomass equations from foliar cover and height estimates of plant species
to provide an efficient means for determining vegetative biomass on inventory plots in the Tanana River
basin of interior Alaska. Equations are available in [87]:

Disease:
Swamp red currant is an alternate host for the white pine blister rust fungus [59,79].

Herbicide:
The effectiveness of vegetation control treatments were measured 11 years following a wildfire in boreal
white and black spruce habitat in the Dawson Creek Forest District of British Columbia to reduce dense mixed
hardwood, shrub, and grass communities. Treatments included: (1) discing; (2) discing and glyphosate treatment;
(3) no discing and glyphosate treatment and (4) an untreated control. Vegetation was measured 14 years following
the treatments. Swamp red currant showed no growth following any of the treatments and had 0.5% cover in the
untreated control with a modal height of 0.33 feet (0.10 m) [11].

To control vegetation competing with white spruce, glyphosate was applied to one 328 x 328 ft. (100 x 100 m)
plot at the Tsiloh River in the Fort James Forest District of British Columbia. Ten years later, vegetation
was measured. Swamp red currant was found growing in the plot treated with glyphosate and was not present in
the control plot [12].

Wildlife: The density of swamp red currant decreases moderately
in deer yards, a place where deer herd during the winter months, of northern white-cedar swamps of northern
Wisconsin [34].

Hummingbirds utilize the flowers of swamp red currant [44].