Marshes dominated by Carex vulpina occur in shallow depressions in floodplain meadows, oxbows and alluvial pools in an advanced stage of terrestrialization, and rarely also on the edges of small fishponds and wet ditches. Soils are usually heavy and clayey, and rich in potassium and phosphorus. C. vulpina stands are flooded for a few days or weeks in spring, but later in the growing season the water table can drop even a few dozen cm below the soil surface. This vegetation type is most common in dry and warm lowlands and colline areas, but it also occurs in wetter and cooler areas.