Abstract for CNVC00326

Wetland
Wetland

Larix laricina / Alnus incana / Rubus pubescens

Tamarack / Speckled Alder / Dwarf Raspberry
Mélèze laricin / Aulne rugueux / Ronce pubescente


CNVC00326 is a boreal wetland coniferous forest Association that occurs in Manitoba and Ontario. It has a moderately closed canopy of tamarack (Larix laricina), often with black spruce (Picea mariana), and a dense shrub layer dominated by speckled alder (Alnus incana). Common Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), prickly rose (Rosa acicularis), red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) and alder-leaved buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia) are often present in the shrub layer as well. The herb layer is moderately developed, relatively diverse and, like the shrub layer, includes nutrient-demanding species. Typically, dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), northern starflower (Lysimachia borealis), naked mitrewort (Mitella nuda) and sedges (e.g., Carex leptalea, C. disperma and C. trisperma) are common. Moss layer development varies from sparse to continuous. It is usually dominated by peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.), but feathermosses including red-stemmed feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi) and stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens) are usually present on drier microsites (e.g., peat hummocks). CNVC00326 occurs on wet, nutrient-medium to rich sites in a region with a boreal continental climate that grades from subhumid in the west to humid in the east. Substrates are usually organic soils formed from slowly decomposing sedge litter and Sphagnum mosses. CNVC00326 is typically the first cohort to develop after fire, which is infrequent on these wet sites.

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