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Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea - Vaccinium scoparium Forest | Western Ecology Working Group of...
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Name: Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea - Vaccinium scoparium Forest Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: This association is found from central Idaho (middle Rocky Mountains) and extreme northwestern Oregon's Blue Mountains northward to northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, British Columbia and southwestern Alberta (northern Rocky Mountains and Canadian Rockies). It is generally characterized as occurring at the highest elevations of mesic forests, which is roughly from 1830 to 2200 m (6000-7200 feet). Though sites are relatively mesic, located predominantly on moderate to steep north- to east-facing slopes that may receive greater amounts of moisture due to blow-over, they are also stressful due to the frequency of high winds and cold temperatures. It is hypothesized that these sites receive less snowload and/or experience a later melt-off date than those supporting Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Luzula glabrata var. hitchcockii Woodland (CEGL005896) and occupy colder microenvironments than does Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Forest (CEGL005895). Parent materials are various, comprised of colluvium (of sedimentary and intrusive igneous nature) and ash cap to Lithosols comprised of both calcareous and noncalcareous sedimentary rock. This open forest type is Abies lasiocarpa- and Picea engelmannii-dominated from the time of earliest post-shrub stage of succession. Pinus contorta and Pinus albicaulis are the only seral species of note. Tree height is usually less than 60 feet. The undergrowth is comparatively species-poor, but its cover, between the tall-shrub layer of Menziesia ferruginea, Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata, and Sorbus scopulina, and short/dwarf-shrub layer of Vaccinium membranaceum, Vaccinium scoparium, and Vaccinium myrtillus, is virtually continuous. The species-depauperate forb layer is almost invariably dominated by Xerophyllum tenax with Arnica cordifolia, Arnica latifolia, Goodyera oblongifolia, and various Pedicularis species having the highest constancy.  Accession Code: VB.CC.28264.ABIESLASIOCARPA Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 10-Feb-2004 to: 17-Nov-2014
	status: accepted Community's Parent: Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii Forest Alliance This Community's Level: Association This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Translated: Subalpine Fir - Engelmann Spruce / Fool's-huckleberry - Grouseberry Forest   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.730833 NatureServe Explorer   Scientific: Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea - Vaccinium scoparium Forest   Code: CEGL005894 (convergence) and Synonyms: (undetermined) Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea - Vaccinium scoparium Forest