Login | Datasets | Logout
Jump to... Home PLOT search PLANT search COMMUNITY search Simple search Manage datasets Tutorial About FAQ ------- Site map VegBranch Data dictionary ERD

stdcommconcept2251422514

View Community Concepts - Detail

Tsuga mertensiana / Streptopus amplexifolius Forest | Western Ecology Working Group of...
click to update datacart
Name: Tsuga mertensiana / Streptopus amplexifolius Forest Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: This plant association is described from sites located primarily in the upper Clearwater River drainage, within the central region of the Bitterroot Mountains ecoregional section. The plant association occurs in a mountainous region characterized by a Pacific maritime climatic regime. Sites are cool, wet, north-facing toeslopes or narrow stringers of streamside terraces at 5000 to nearly 6000 feet elevation. At the lower elevation range stands are characterized by earlier snowmelt and runoff. At the higher elevation range (described as the Luzula glabrata var. hitchcockii (= Luzula hitchcockii) phase) snowpacks are often deep and persistent. Parent materials are metamorphic rocks. Soils are seasonally saturated, with high gravel content throughout the profile. Textures range from sandy loams, silt loams to silts. The evergreen needle-leaved forest association is dominated by a variable composition of Tsuga mertensiana, Abies lasiocarpa and Picea engelmannii. All three of these species are capable of rapidly recolonizing following disturbance. Several other conifer species can occur as seral components in younger stands. The understory has a well-developed deciduous shrub layer, less than 2 m tall, dominated by Menziesia ferruginea and lesser amounts of Vaccinium membranaceum. The herbaceous layer is characterized by a variable assemblage of forbs indicative of wet sites, including Streptopus amplexifolius, Senecio triangularis, Mitella breweri, Ligusticum canbyi, Trautvetteria caroliniensis and Veratrum viride. Total herbaceous cover varies from 30-40%. On sites above 5600 feet, a phase is recognized where the perennial graminoid Luzula glabrata var. hitchcockii is abundant (24% cover), and overall forb cover and richness are significantly less than in the lower elevation stands.  Accession Code: VB.CC.22514.TSUGAMERTENSIAN Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 17-Nov-2014
	status: accepted Community's Parent: Tsuga mertensiana Seasonally Flooded Forest Alliance This Community's Level: Association This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Translated: Mountain Hemlock / Clasping Twisted-stalk Forest   Code: CEGL000511   Scientific: Tsuga mertensiana / Streptopus amplexifolius Forest   Common: Mountain Hemlock / Twisted-stalk   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.686219 NatureServe Explorer (convergence) and Synonyms: (undetermined) Tsuga mertensiana / Streptopus amplexifolius Forest