Alluvial Uplands Provisional Ecological Site Group

Description

The reference state supports a variety of forest types including mixed paper birch-white spruce open forest, mixed paper birch-quaking aspen forest, and mixed black spruce-paper birch forest. Forests dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) probably developed after forest fires and may persist indefinitely. Understory characteristics vary considerably, reflecting a range of successional stages, microsites, and disturbance history. Mature paper birch-white spruce forest with dense tall and low shrub understory is the latest successional stage and the presumed potential vegetation. The most abundant shrubs include Sitka alder (Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata), devil's club (Oplopanax horridus), rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea), highbush cranberry (Viburnum edule), ovalleaf blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium), and occasionally willow (Salix spp.). Scattered herbs, patches of moss, and leafy litter characterize the forest floor.

Dominant plant species

1. white spruce (Picea glauca), tree

2. black spruce (Picea mariana), tree

3. paper birch (Betula papyrifera), tree

4. quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), tree

5. Sitka alder (Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata), shrub

6. devilsclub (Oplopanax horridus), shrub

7. rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea), shrub

8. squashberry (Viburnum edule), shrub

9. oval-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium), shrub

10. bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis), grass

11. common ladyfern (Athyrium filix-femina), grass

12. western oakfern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris), grass

13. Schreber's big red stem moss (Pleurozium schreberi), grass

Submodel