Boreal Woodland Gravelly Frozen Slopes

Description

The reference plant community is dwarf tree scrub woodland (Viereck et al. 1992) with the dominant tree being black spruce. There are three plant communities within the reference state related to fire.

Solifluction is a process associated with this state but does not happen to a degree resulting in a mosaic of vegetation. Solifluction is the slow, viscous downslope flow of water-saturated soil (Shoeneberger and Wysocki 2017). This process is most active for this site during spring thaw where the upper band of soil material slips on a seasonally frozen layer. Solifluction is a common process associated with several ecological sites in this area and this site can at times have small solifluction lobes. Since these small solifluction lobes are uncommon and do not result in a vegetation mosaic, no alternative state was developed for this site (see R231XY113AK for a site that does have this alternate state).

Dominant plant species

1. black spruce (Picea mariana), tree

2. marsh Labrador tea (Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens), shrub

3. lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), shrub

4. sphagnum (Sphagnum), grass

5. reindeer lichen (Cladina), grass

Submodel