Name:
Pseudotsuga menziesii - Notholithocarpus densiflorus - Arbutus menziesii Forest Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This forest group is characterized by mixes of coniferous and broad-leaved evergreen trees. Characteristic trees include <i>Arbutus menziesii, Chrysolepis chrysophylla, Notholithocarpus densiflorus, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quercus chrysolepis</i>, and <i>Umbellularia californica</i>. <i>Pinus coulteri</i> occurs in scattered stands. On the eastern fringe of this group, in the western Klamath Mountains, other conifers occur such as <i>Calocedrus decurrens, Pinus ponderosa</i>, and <i>Chamaecyparis lawsoniana</i>. In the southern portion of the range, stands are a mixture of <i>Abies bracteata</i> and <i>Quercus chrysolepis</i>. More northerly stands tend to have dense or diverse shrub understories, with <i>Corylus cornuta, Gaultheria shallon, Mahonia nervosa, Quercus sadleriana, Rhododendron macrophyllum, Toxicodendron diversilobum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium ovatum</i> being common. This group occurs in California in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Santa Lucia Mountains, throughout the outer and middle Coast Ranges, south across the outer central Coast Ranges and north in the northern Coast Ranges and western Klamath Mountains, into southwestern Oregon, and locally in the northern Sierra Nevada. It can occur on metasediments and granitic substrate, on Franciscan Formation soils (metasedimentary sandstones, schists and shales) with moderate to high rainfall in the Coast Ranges. Historic fire frequency in this group was higher than for redwood-dominated systems (every 50-100 years).Southern stands have a sparser shrub understory; <i>Toxicodendron diversilobum</i> is the most constant shrub, along with much <i>Polystichum munitum</i>. Especially in the south, stands are restricted to fire-protected sites (extremely steep, northerly, mesic slopes and coves) where fires from adjacent chaparral systems do not carry. Historic fire frequency was likely higher than the north. Stands with just conifers present are a part of ~Californian Conifer Forest & Woodland Group (G198)$$.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40004-{A2B76907-B70F-4A18-B22C-6356CD1194FE}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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