Name:
Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii Swamp Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance includes subalpine riparian or seep slope conifer forests characterized by the codominance of the conifers <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> and <i>Picea engelmannii</i>. Other conifer species that may be present to codominant include <i>Picea engelmannii x glauca, Picea glauca, Pinus contorta</i>, and <i>Tsuga mertensiana</i>. Additional conifers may also be present in small amounts. The shrub layer is often well-developed, occurring as a dense ribbon along streams or where there is a break in the forest canopy. Important shrubs include <i>Alnus incana, Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata, Ledum glandulosum, Lonicera</i> spp., <i>Oplopanax horridus, Ribes lacustre, Salix</i> spp., <i>Vaccinium</i> spp., and <i>Xerophyllum tenax</i>. The herbaceous layer is typically lush and dominated by a mixture of mesophytic mostly forbs and some graminoids, including <i>Arnica cordifolia, Calamagrostis</i> spp., <i>Caltha leptosepala, Cardamine cordifolia, Carex</i> spp., <i>Deschampsia cespitosa, Dodecatheon jeffreyi, Equisetum</i> spp., <i>Ligusticum porteri, Ligusticum</i> spp., <i>Linnaea borealis, Mertensia ciliata, Mitella pentandra, Orthilia secunda, Oxypolis fendleri, Senecio triangularis, Senecio triangularis</i>, and <i>Streptopus amplexifolius</i>. These forests occur in the upper montane and subalpine areas of the Rocky Mountains in landscape positions where snowmelt moisture creates shallow water tables, seeps, or streamside flooding during much of the growing season. Sites include moist toeslopes, subirrigated stream terraces, alluvial benches, pond margins, wet meadows, or slopes and hillsides that are wet in spring and early summer. Soils often show evidence of podzolization processes and gleying due to seasonally saturated conditions, and tend to be acidic. They often have high organic matter content throughout the profile, but can vary from shallow to deep, and coarse to fine-textured.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38971-{2746A51D-E51C-4E9D-ABF2-C377D8ECD73C}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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