Abstract for CNVC00225

Forest
Forêt

Abies balsamea (Picea glauca) / Acer spicatum / Oxalis montana

Balsam Fir (White Spruce) / Mountain Maple / Common Wood-sorrel
Sapin baumier (Épinette blanche) / Érable à épis / Oxalide de montagne

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CNVC00225 is a boreal coniferous forest Association that occurs in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It has a closed canopy dominated by balsam fir (Abies balsamea), frequently with lower abundance of white spruce (Picea glauca) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera). The shrub layer is well developed and dominated by roughly equal proportions of mountain maple (Acer spicatum) and regenerating balsam fir, with less abundant paper birch and white spruce regeneration. The herb layer is moderately developed, typically with low cover of wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), yellow clintonia (Clintonia borealis), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), northern starflower (Lysimachia borealis), common wood sorrel (Oxalis montana), wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense), goldthread (Coptis trifolia) and twinflower (Linnaea borealis). The moderately developed moss layer consists of red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi), knight’s plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis), stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens) and broom mosses (Dicranum spp.). CNVC00225 occurs in a region with a boreal climate that grades from humid continental in the western portion of its range to very humid and more maritime in the east. It is most common on mesic to moist, nutrient-medium to rich sites. It is a late seral condition that occurs where fire has been absent for a long period. Insect outbreaks and windthrow are the primary natural disturbances. The canopy gaps or large patches that result from these disturbances promote self-replacement of this Association by the release of balsam fir regeneration. Two subassociations are recognized, typic and Rubus pubescens.

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