Abstract for CNVC00102

Forest
Forêt

Picea glauca / Rosa acicularis / Hylocomium splendens

White Spruce / Prickly Rose / Stairstep Moss
Épinette blanche / Rosier aciculaire / Hylocomie brillante

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CNVC00102 is a boreal coniferous forest Association that occurs in Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta. It has a moderately closed canopy of white spruce (Picea glauca), sometimes with a minor component of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). The shrub layer is usually moderately developed but varies depending on the patchiness of shrubs. Prickly rose (Rosa acicularis) and squashberry (Viburnum edule) commonly occur and green alder (Alnus viridis) may be abundant where present. The herb and dwarf shrub layer is moderately to well developed and typically includes twinflower (Linnaea borealis), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), tall bluebells (Mertensia paniculata), fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) and one-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda). The moss layer is well developed to continuous with stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens) dominant, followed by red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi) and knight’s plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis). CNVC00102 occurs in a region with a subhumid continental climate. It is most common on mesic to moist, nutrient-medium to rich sites. It is a late successional condition that tends to occur in areas that have escaped fire for a long period. Insect outbreaks and windthrow are the primary natural disturbances. Canopy gaps or large patches resulting from these disturbances promote self-replacement of this Association. Four subassociations are distinguished: typic, Viburnum edule, Alnus viridis and Vaccinium vitis-idaea.

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