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

stdcommconcept2711027110

View Community Concepts - Detail

Thuja plicata - Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum Forest | Western Ecology Working Group of...
click to update datacart
Name: Thuja plicata - Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum Forest Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: This forest association occurs primarily in the Puget Sound Basin in northwestern Washington and adjacent British Columbia. Stands are relatively small in area and are restricted to very specific environments in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island. The climate is drier than surrounding coastal mountain areas, with average annual precipitation ranging from as low as 46 cm in the San Juan Islands to 90 cm in the Puget Lowlands, with a pronounced summer dry season. Valleys where these forests are found are protected from the dry summer winds and have relatively low summer temperatures. Soils are loamy sands to sandy loams, with weakly developed profiles, and soil moisture is high most of the year. These tall conifer forests are dominated by Thuja plicata and Abies grandis. Tsuga heterophylla is also common, occurring in most stands, but in less abundance and does not regenerate. Tree regeneration is relatively sparse, with the dominant trees each averaging 64 saplings and seedlings per hectare. Stands that have been disturbed by logging often have an abundant tree subcanopy and shrubby layer of the seral, broad-leaved deciduous trees Acer macrophyllum and Alnus rubra. These deciduous species are not present in undisturbed stands. The understory is strongly dominated by the perennial fern Polystichum munitum, which averages 43% cover and often the fronds have a 2-m spread. Scattered individuals of several shrub species also occur, such as Symphoricarpos albus and Vaccinium parvifolium, but none have greater than 2% cover. Mosses are abundant on logs and average 15% cover. Diagnostic of this forest association is the dominance of Thuja plicata and Abies grandis in the tree canopy and Polystichum munitum in the understory.  Accession Code: VB.CC.27110.THUJAPLICATAABI 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: Thuja plicata Giant Forest Alliance This Community's Level: Association This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Translated: Western Red-cedar - Grand Fir / Pineland Sword Fern Forest   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.689671 NatureServe Explorer   Scientific: Thuja plicata - Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum Forest   Common: Western Red-cedar - Grand Fir / Sword Fern Forest   Code: CEGL000468 (convergence) and Synonyms: (undetermined) Thuja plicata - Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum Forest