Name:
Pinus contorta / Clintonia uniflora - Xerophyllum tenax Woodland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This seral, large-patch to matrix lodgepole pine woodland occupies the relatively cold and dry environments across a number of climax tree series and associated geographic regions. Thus, this mesic type is found throughout the northern Rocky Mountains and may extend as far west as the Cascade Crest on environments characterized as foothills and montane to lower and even mid-subalpine. The association's possible elevation range is from 915 to 1800 m (3000-5900 feet), and consistently occurs on south- through west-facing exposures. It is found on all landforms, though collecting position on slopes, from the midslopes to footslopes are most common. It occurs regularly on higher elevation flat terrain. The range of parent materials is as great as possible types occurring in the northern Rocky Mountains and northernmost middle Rocky Mountains and may include some ultramafics east of the Cascade Crest. The soils are uniformly well-drained and have a low coarse-fragment content, except those sites within the lower to mid-subalpine zone (which have a greater coarse-fragment content). The overstory is dominated by <i>Pinus contorta</i> with a number of other tree species possibly present. On warmer sites these include <i>Thuja plicata, Tsuga heterophylla</i>, and <i>Abies grandis</i>, and on colder or higher elevation sites are found <i>Abies lasiocarpa, Tsuga mertensiana</i>, and <i>Picea engelmannii</i>. However, the most frequent canopy codominants or associates are the seral species <i>Larix occidentalis, Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>, and in a restricted portion of the type's range <i>Pinus monticola</i>. The tall-shrub component is relatively unimportant. The short-shrub layer exhibits greater cover and diversity than the other shrub components with <i>Vaccinium membranaceum, Paxistima myrsinites, Rosa gymnocarpa, Rubus parviflorus</i>, and <i>Spiraea betulifolia</i> being consistently present. <i>Linnaea borealis</i> and <i>Chimaphila umbellata</i> have high constancy in the dwarf-shrub layer. <i>Bromus vulgaris</i> (or <i>Bromus ciliatus</i>) are the only graminoids of note. The diagnostic forbs <i>Clintonia uniflora, Xerophyllum tenax</i>, and <i>Tiarella trifoliata</i> naturally have high constancy and/or cover; however, a number of other forbs also exhibit high constancy, including <i>Arnica latifolia, Aralia nudicaulis, Adenocaulon bicolor, Coptis occidentalis, Cornus canadensis, Galium triflorum, Goodyera oblongifolia, Maianthemum stellatum, Osmorhiza berteroi (= Osmorhiza chilensis), Pedicularis racemosa, Orthilia secunda (= Pyrola secunda), Thalictrum occidentale, Trillium ovatum</i>, and <i>Viola orbiculata</i>.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.32220.CEGL005921
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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