Name:
Abies lasiocarpa - Populus tremuloides Rocky Mountain Moist Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The mixed coniferous and deciduous tree canopy is open to moderately closed and is dominated by <i>Populus tremuloides</i> and <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i>. Several other species of conifers may be scattered within the stands, including <i>Abies concolor, Picea engelmannii, Picea pungens, Pinus contorta, Pinus flexilis</i>, and <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>. Younger stands typically have dense <i>Populus tremuloides</i>, with <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> or other conifers mixed in. As the stands age in this typically seral forest association, <i>Populus tremuloides</i> is slowly reduced until conifers become dominant. Mixed stands must have at least 25% relative tree cover of both aspen (deciduous) and conifers. The understory is most often composed of a short-shrub layer often dominated by <i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i>. Other shrubs may include <i>Amelanchier alnifolia, Mahonia repens, Paxistima myrsinites, Physocarpus malvaceus</i>, and <i>Rosa woodsii</i>. The herbaceous layer is variable and may compete with shrub species for understory dominance or in some stands be dominant over shrubs. It is a mixture of graminoids and forbs. Characteristic herbaceous species may include <i>Delphinium x occidentale, Eucephalus engelmannii, Heracleum maximum, Osmorhiza occidentalis, Pedicularis racemosa, Rudbeckia occidentalis, Thalictrum fendleri</i>, and <i>Valeriana occidentalis</i>. Stands included in this mixed evergreen-deciduous forest alliance have been described from mountain slopes and plateaus in the Rocky Mountains from Alberta, Canada, south to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and west into Utah. They occur on gentle to steep slopes on all aspects, but are most common on cooler and more mesic, north and east aspects. Soils are derived from alluvium and colluvium from sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous parent materials.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38060-{80EA4B81-2877-489C-BBDD-C08CB10A3ECC}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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