Abstract for CNVC00216

Forest
Forêt

Picea mariana – Betula papyrifera (Abies balsamea) / Acer spicatum

Black Spruce – Paper Birch (Balsam fir) / Mountain Maple
Épinette noire – Bouleau à papier (Sapin baumier) / Érable à épis

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CNVC00216 is a boreal mixedwood forest Association that occurs in Quebec. It has a closed canopy that is typically dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera), with a minor component of balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is occasionally abundant. The shrub layer is dense and dominated by mountain maple (Acer spicatum), with lower abundance of regenerating black spruce, balsam fir and paper birch, and several other shrub species, including northern bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.), velvet-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides), early lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium), American mountain-ash (Sorbus americana) and wild raisin (Viburnum nudum). The herb layer is well developed and typically includes yellow clintonia (Clintonia borealis), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), northern starflower (Lysimachia borealis), wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense), goldthread (Coptis trifolia), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) and creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula). The forest floor cover is mainly broad-leaf litter so the moss layer is poorly developed, with only minor cover of red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi). CNVC00216 occurs in a region with a humid continental boreal climate on mesic, nutrient-medium to rich sites. It typically establishes as the first cohort after fire, but harvesting and outbreaks of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) also play a role in its dynamics.

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