Abstract for CNVC00295

Forest
Forêt

Picea mariana / Alnus incana / Pleurozium schreberi

Black Spruce / Speckled Alder / Red-stemmed Feathermoss
Épinette noire / Aulne rugueux / Pleurozie dorée

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CNVC00295 is a boreal coniferous forest Association that ranges from Manitoba to Quebec. It has an open to moderately closed canopy dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana). The shrub layer is moderately developed to dense and commonly includes black spruce and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) regeneration, speckled alder (Alnus incana), common Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and velvet-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides). Speckled alder sometimes forms dense thickets. The herb layer is moderately developed and usually includes bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula), goldthread (Coptis trifolia) and twinflower (Linnaea borealis), along with low abundance of several other species. The moss layer is well developed to continuous. Red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi) is dominant, but knight’s plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis) and stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens) are also present, sometimes with discontinuous patches of peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.). CNVC00295 occurs in a region with a continental boreal climate that grades from subhumid in the western portion of its range to humid in the east. It is found on mesic to wet, nutrient-medium to rich sites. Stands typically recolonize after fire and are self-replacing over time. Three subassociations are distinguished: Alnus incana, Mitella nuda and Larix laricina.

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