Subalpine Scrub Loamy Frozen Slopes

Description

The reference plant community is open low scrub (Viereck et al. 1992). There is one documented plant community in the reference state.

Cryoturbation is process associated with this state that results in the formation of non-sorted circles. Cryoturbation is a collective term used to describe all soil movements due to frost action, characterized by folded, broken and dislocated beds and lenses of unconsolidated deposits (Schoeneberger and Wysocki 2017). Since non-sorted circles are uncommon for this site and data did not support these features having a vegetation mosaic, no alternative state was developed for this site (see R231XY134AK for a site that does have this alternate state).

Dominant plant species

1. tealeaf willow (Salix pulchra), shrub

2. bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), shrub

3. Bigelow's sedge (Carex bigelowii), grass

4. sphagnum (Sphagnum), grass

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

Submodel