Abstract for CNVC00276

Forest
Forêt

Picea mariana / Rhododendron groenlandicum – Vaccinium angustifolium / Pleurozium schreberi (Sphagnum spp.)

Black Spruce / Common Labrador Tea – Early Lowbush Blueberry / Red-stemmed Feathermoss (Peat Mosses)
Épinette noire / Thé du Labrador – Bleuet à feuilles étroites / Pleurozie dorée (Sphaignes)

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CNVC00276 is a boreal coniferous forest Association that ranges from Manitoba to Quebec. It has a moderately closed canopy dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana). The shrub layer is well developed to dense with abundant regenerating black spruce and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) as well as ericaceous species, including common Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), velvet-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides), early lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium) and sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia). The herb layer is sparse; only creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula) and bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) are common. Feathermosses, especially red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi), dominate the continuous moss layer, but peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.) are also abundant and help to characterize this Association. CNVC00276 occurs primarily on moist, nutrient-poor to medium sites in a region with a boreal climate that grades from subhumid continental in the west, becoming increasingly humid and maritime in the east. Stands typically recolonize after fire and are self-replacing over time. Three subassociations are distinguished: typic, Hylocomium splendens and Rhododendron groenlandicum.

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