Name:
Picea glauca - Picea mariana - Betula papyrifera var. kenaica Forest Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The Alaskan and Yukon boreal forest is a mixture of upland and low moist forests dominated by the conifers <i>Picea glauca</i> and <i>Picea mariana</i>, and hardwoods <i>Betula neoalaskana, Betula papyrifera var. kenaica</i>, and <i>Populus tremuloides</i>. <i>Larix laricina</i> and <i>Populus balsamifera</i> are occasionally present in the uplands. A gradient exists from drier <i>Populus tremuloides</i> stands on warmer sites, to mesic - most <i>Picea mariana</i> stands, interior mesic <i>Picea glauca</i> mixed hardwood stands and, southward, the moist subboreal transition <i>Picea glauca, Picea x lutzii</i> - mixed hardwood stands. Stands are found in the interior boreal, southern subboreal, and boreal-transition regions of Alaska, some even extending south to the Kenai Peninsula, east into the southern Yukon Territory of Canada. The mountainous terrain consists of a complex of intrusive igneous and metamorphic rocks (granite, gneiss, schist, phyllite, etc.) with flat-lying to gently dipping, sedimentary Paleozoic rocks. The Precambrian Canadian Shield is absent. The Alaska range is very mountainous, whereas northward in the interior, the region is an intermountain plateau, dissected by major river valleys. Till and outwash predominate; lacustrine and fluvial sediments are locally important, with occasional bedrock outcrops. A permafrost layer is largely discontinuous (50-90%), or absent. Disturbances include fire, logging, and insect disease.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40525-{CE2E82E6-59B3-4B40-9018-073FF8263475}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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