Abstract for CNVC00235

Forest
Forêt

Abies balsamea – Betula papyrifera / Acer spicatum

Balsam Fir – Paper Birch / Mountain Maple
Sapin baumier – Bouleau à papier / Érable à épis

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CNVC00235 is a boreal mixedwood forest Association that ranges from Manitoba to Quebec. It has a closed canopy of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and/or white spruce (Picea glauca), with paper birch (Betula papyrifera) and/or trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). The dense shrub layer has abundant mountain maple (Acer spicatum), beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) and balsam fir regeneration, and lower abundance of paper birch saplings and northern bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera). The herb layer is well developed and commonly includes yellow clintonia (Clintonia borealis), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), northern starflower (Lysimachia borealis) and wood ferns (Dryopteris spp.). The forest floor cover is mainly broad-leaf litter, so the moss layer is sparse, with only minor cover of red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi). CNVC00235 occurs in a region with a boreal continental climate that grades from subhumid continental in the western portion of its range to very humid and more maritime in the east. It is most frequently found on mesic, nutrient-medium to rich sites. It is a mid-seral condition that typically succeeds an early seral hardwood Association that establishes after fire or harvesting. As the fire cycle lengthens in the eastern portion of its range, outbreaks of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) play a greater role in the dynamics of this Association. Two subassociations are distinguished, typic and Rubus pubescens.

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