Abstract for CNVC00270
Forest
Forêt
Betula papyrifera – Picea mariana – Abies balsamea / Pleurozium schreberi – Sphagnum spp.
Paper Birch – Black Spruce – Balsam Fir / Red-stemmed Feathermoss – Peat Mosses
Bouleau à papier – Épinette noire – Sapin baumier / Pleurozie dorée – Sphaignes
CNVC00270 is a boreal mixedwood forest Association that occurs in Ontario and Quebec. It has a moderately closed to closed canopy comprising paper birch (Betula papyrifera), black spruce (Picea mariana) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) in various mixtures. Regeneration of these tree species, especially balsam fir, dominates the well-developed to dense shrub layer. American mountain-ash (Sorbus americana) is common but less abundant in this layer. The herb layer is moderately developed and typically includes low cover of bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula), yellow clintonia (Clintonia borealis), goldthread (Coptis trifolia), wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense), northern starflower (Lysimachia borealis), common wood-sorrel (Oxalis montana), wood ferns (Dryopteris spp.) and sedges (Carex spp.). The moss layer is well developed and characterized by abundant feathermosses, especially red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi), and peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.), especially Girgensohn’s peat moss (S. girgensohnii). Minor amounts of broom mosses (Dicranum spp.), haircap mosses (Polytrichum spp.) and reindeer lichens (Cladina spp.) are also present. CNVC00270 typically occurs on moist to mesic, nutrient-medium sites in a region with a humid continental boreal climate. It is a mid-seral condition that can develop after low-severity fires, harvesting or partial disturbances such as insect outbreaks or windthrow. Three subassociations are distinguished: typic, Picea mariana and Betula papyrifera.
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