Abstract for CNVC00092
Forest
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Populus tremuloides – Pinus contorta / Rhododendron groenlandicum / Leymus innovatus – Vaccinium vitis-idaea / Hylocomium splendens
Trembling Aspen – Lodgepole Pine / Common Labrador Tea / Downy Lymegrass – Lingonberry / Stairstep Moss
Peuplier faux-tremble – Pin tordu / Thé du Labrador / Élyme innovant – Airelle rouge / Hylocomie brillante
CNVC00092 is a boreal mixedwood forest Association that occurs in Alberta. It has a moderately closed canopy usually codominated by trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). White spruce (Picea glauca) is usually present, sometimes as the dominant conifer. The well-developed shrub layer typically includes abundant common Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and less abundant prickly rose (Rosa acicularis), velvet-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) and regenerating trembling aspen. Green alder (Alnus viridis) can be abundant where present and distinguishes a subassociation of the same name. The herb and dwarf shrub layer is dense and has abundant bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), downy lymegrass (Leymus innovatus) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) as well as lower cover of twinflower (Linnaea borealis), fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium), pink pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia), bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), arctic sweet coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus) and wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense). The moss layer is poorly developed to continuous, depending on the amount of broad-leaf litter on the forest floor. It usually includes stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens), red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi) and knight’s plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis). CNVC00092 occurs mainly on mesic, nutrient-medium sites in a region with a subhumid continental climate. It is an early seral condition that typically establishes after fire. There are two subassociations, typic and Alnus viridis.
Factsheet