Abstract for CNVC00114

Wetland
Wetland

Picea mariana / Salix myrtillifolia / Hylocomium splendens – Aulacomnium palustre

Black Spruce / Low Blueberry Willow / Ribbed Bog Moss – Stairstep Moss
Épinette noire / Saule à feuilles de myrtille / Aulacomnie des marais – Hylocomie brillante

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CNVC00114 is a boreal wetland coniferous woodland or forest Association that ranges from Yukon to Alberta. It has a sparse to moderately closed tree layer of stunted (usually〈 10m height), narrow-crowned black spruce (Picea mariana), typically with a minor component of white spruce (P. glauca), although the two species can occur in varying proportions. The shrub layer is dense and characterized by abundant common Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and low blueberry willow (Salix myrtillifolia), often with patches of black spruce and either glandular birch (Betula glandulosa) or arctic dwarf birch (B. nana). Bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) is less common but can be abundant when present. The herb and dwarf shrub layer is poorly to well developed; lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and red bearberry (Arctous rubra) are common, and usually occur with low cover of horsetails (Equisetum scirpoides, E. arvense, E. sylvaticum and/or E. fluviatile). The moss layer is continuous and dominated by stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens) and ribbed bog moss (Aulacomnium palustre), with small patches of reindeer lichens (Cladina mitis, C. rangiferina and/or C. stellaris) on drier microsites. CNVC00114 occurs on cold, moist to wet, mainly nutrient-medium sites in a region with a subhumid boreal climate. Substrates are either mineral or organic, and may be underlain by permafrost, particularly in the northwestern part of the range. Although fire can occasionally occur, this is typically a stable condition. Local hydrology is the main driver of vegetation dynamics. There are two subassociations, typic and Rhododendron groenlandicum.

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