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Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Forest | Western Ecology Working Group of...
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Name: Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Forest
Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description: This association occurs throughout the middle to northern Rocky Mountains and on into the Canadian Rockies as a small- to large-patch type from mid to upper subalpine habitats. In the southerly portions of its distribution, the Wallowa and Seven Devils mountains and Idaho Batholith, it faithfully occupies moderate to steep slopes of northerly aspects at elevations ranging from 5600 to 7500 feet, but dropping to 4500 feet where frost pocket conditions obtain. Further to the north it also occurs predominantly on northerly exposures, but at higher elevations in wetter climates, it may be found on southerly exposures. It can occur on a given slope from the toe, up the backslope to the slope shoulder, and in wetter climates is found on ridgetops as well. It is perhaps most widely distributed in western Montana where individual stands may comprise hundreds to thousands of acres. It exhibits no particular substrate preferences being found on granitics, fine-grained sedimentaries (including argillite and limestone), metasediments, and mica-schist; volcanic ash caps of varying depths (to 50 cm thickness) are very prevalent in the southern and western portions. The predominant soil texture is silt loam, and soils are uniformly well-drained. Rock content of surface horizons ranges from about 15% to over 50%. This is a closed forest type for the most part with total upper canopy cover ranging upward from 60%. A variable mix of Abies lasiocarpa and Picea engelmannii dominates the canopy as well as the regeneration layers. Seral tree species do poorly on these sites; Pinus contorta, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Larix occidentalis are the only tree species consistently present and seldom is their canopy cover as great as 20%. The modal condition for the undergrowth varies with geographic region. Menziesia ferruginea consistently dominates the tall-shrub layer, which may also have Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata as a conspicuous component. In all parts of the type's range Vaccinium membranaceum is the mid (short) shrub dominant with coverages generally upwards of 30%; it is usually accompanied by low cover of Ribes lacustre and the somewhat shorter dwarf-shrub Vaccinium scoparium (or its ecological analogue Vaccinium myrtillus). The only graminoid consistently present, Luzula glabrata, occurs in slightly greater than trace amounts in stands at higher elevations and experiencing deeper snowpack. The herb layer, depauperate in comparison to that of Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Clintonia uniflora Forest (CEGL005893), is strongly dominated by Xerophyllum tenax; Arnica cordifolia, Arnica latifolia, Goodyera oblongifolia, Viola orbiculata, and Orthilia secunda are the only forbs approaching or exceeding 50% constancy. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.28266.ABIESLASIOCARPA
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 10-Feb-2004 to: 17-Nov-2014
      Names:   Translated: Subalpine Fir - Engelmann Spruce / Fool's-huckleberry / Bear-grass Forest
  UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.730842 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Scientific: Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Forest
  Code: CEGL005895
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(undetermined) Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Forest