Name:
Abies magnifica - Tsuga mertensiana - Pinus contorta var. murrayana Forest Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This macrogroup consists of upper elevation forests of the Pacific states and British Columbia, and extend from southeastern Alaska south into Baja California, Mexico. These forests and woodlands are dominated by <i>Abies amabilis, Abies lasiocarpa, Abies magnifica var. magnifica, Abies magnifica var. shastensis, Abies procera, Callitropsis nootkatensis, Pinus albicaulis, Pinus contorta var. murrayana, Pinus monticola</i>, and/or <i>Tsuga mertensiana</i>. Understories are open, with scattered shrubs and herbaceous species, which do not carry fire should one get started. Structurally these forests can be of short or tall stature, in dense to open, large continuous forests, or occur in small tree islands. Trees can be very large and old and can attain diameters of 1.2 m (4 feet). These high-elevation forests occur in the San Pedro Martir Mountains of Baja California, Mexico, throughout the Sierra Nevada, Transverse and Peninsular ranges of California, the Klamath Mountains and Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington, the coastal mountains and coastal islands of British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska. Elevation changes from south to north, being greater in the south (1600-3600 m [4850-12,000 feet]) and lower in the north (300-2300 m [1000-7500 feet]). Heavy snowpack is a major source of soil moisture throughout the growing season, and deep, late-lying snowpack is a primary environmental factor preventing tree establishment that contributes to the patchiness of the forest at the upper elevational limit.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40453-{8A430DA1-1A91-4DAD-B052-DE30B1D27600}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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