Name:
North American Boreal Shrubland & Grassland Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
Vegetation of this boreal type mostly occurs on sites where ecological drivers such as extreme cold, snow, wind, or insolation result in vegetation atypical of the prevailing boreal forest. The vegetation can also develop post-fire and persist due to difficult conditions for tree regeneration. Shrubs predominate in most communities and include <i>Juniperus communis</i> and <i>Juniperus horizontalis</i> on warm-aspect grassy slopes, alvar or dunes, <i>Betula nana</i> and/or <i>Betula glandulosa</i> at high elevations and in cold valleys, <i>Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata, Salix glauca</i>, or <i>Salix pulchra</i> on avalanche tracks or local areas of high snowpack, and <i>Kalmia angustifolia</i> or <i>Empetrum</i> spp. heath. Grasses and herbs of dry sites include <i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Artemisia frigida, Bromus inermis var. pumpellianus, Calamagrostis purpurascens, Carex obtusata, Carex richardsonii, Chamerion latifolium, Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus, Festuca altaica, Festuca saximontana, Koeleria macrantha, Leymus mollis</i>, and <i>Saxifraga tricuspidata</i>, among others. Herbs and grasses of moist sites include <i>Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex bigelowii, Chamerion angustifolium, Equisetum arvense, Geranium erianthum, Heracleum maximum, Polemonium acutiflorum, Rubus arcticus</i>, and <i>Sanguisorba canadensis</i>. These moist-site herbs can also occur in meadows in areas of high snow cover.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40475-{D496F6AB-AE20-4901-8894-A5BAAED55AD7}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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