Name:
Thuja plicata - Callitropsis nootkatensis - Tsuga heterophylla / Gaultheria shallon / Coptis aspleniifolia Swamp Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is located within the very wet to wet hypermaritime climate along the outer coast of British Columbia from sea level to 600 m, or lower farther north and on the Queen Charlotte Islands. This community follows the mainland British Columbia coast from beyond the tip of northern Vancouver Island northward to Portland Canal and into the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is found on moderately inclined seepage slopes and in depressions. Soils are mineral mainly and very poorly drained, as seen in their dull reduced colors. Forest floor organic layers are partially derived from peaty materials including sedges and <i>Sphagnum</i>. This scrubby open canopy bog forest is dominated by spike-topped <i>Callitropsis nootkatensis</i> and <i>Thuja plicata</i>, with some <i>Pinus contorta var. contorta</i>. The moderately developed shrub layer characteristically has all of the tree species, as well as <i>Vaccinium parvifolium, Vaccinium ovalifolium, Vaccinium alaskaense, Menziesia ferruginea, Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata, Taxus brevifolia, Gaultheria shallon</i>, and <i>Elliottia pyroliflora</i>. Wet-site indicators, such as <i>Lysichiton americanus, Veratrum viride, Nephrophyllidium crista-galli, Coptis aspleniifolia, Gentiana douglasiana, Microseris borealis, Calamagrostis nutkaensis</i>, and <i>Carex</i> spp., are common in the herb layer. There are a selection of <i>Sphagnum</i> spp. on level or depressional microsites, including <i>Sphagnum capillifolium, Sphagnum compactum, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum lindbergii</i>, and <i>Sphagnum papillosum</i>. This bog forest association and the wetter, nutritionally poorer bog woodlands are located on seepage slopes or in depressions. Bog forests and bog woodlands have neither <i>Picea sitchensis</i> nor <i>Abies amabilis</i>. Bog forests have relatively much more <i>Thuja plicata, Callitropsis nootkatensis</i>, and <i>Tsuga heterophylla</i> and less coverage of <i>Pinus contorta var. contorta</i> than bog woodlands. The bog woodlands have a very open <i>Pinus contorta var. contorta</i>-dominated scrubby canopy with characteristic <i>Sphagnum</i>-bog species such as <i>Kalmia microphylla, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Nephrophyllidium crista-galli</i>, and <i>Trichophorum cespitosum</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:31731-{8409C1A7-8D8F-40C5-9A9C-E3F40D20D91F}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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