Name:
Salix alaxensis - Dryas octopetala - Eriophorum vaginatum Tundra Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This macrogroup is consists of low shrub, herbaceous and sparsely vegetated tundra in North American arctic and subarctic zones of continuous permafrost, located north of latitudinal treeline of arctic Alaska and Canada and includes subarctic Alaska west of longitudinal treeline. These are non-coastal areas. Tundra here comes is several forms: <b>Tussock grasslands</b> dominated by <i>Eriophorum vaginatum</i>, and/or <i>Carex bigelowii</i> often with dwarf-shrubs and low shrubs; <b>Moist sedge-dominated, non-tussocked tundra</b> with dominant sedges including <i>Eriophorum angustifolium, Carex aquatilis var. stans, Luzula arctica</i>, and <i>Eriophorum vaginatum</i>, often with a scattered (<25% cover), low-statured shrub layer that can include <i>Salix pulchra, Betula nana, Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Cassiope tetragona</i>, and <i>Dryas integrifolia</i>; <b>Mesic herbaceous tundra</b> with >25% cover, and dominant species that include <i>Carex microchaeta ssp. nesophila, Alopecurus magellanicus, Artemisia arctica, Polygonum bistorta, Valeriana capitata, Pedicularis</i> spp., <i>Polemonium acutiflorum, Salix rotundifolia</i>, and <i>Salix reticulata</i>; <b>Mesic low and dwarf-shrub</b>, including low-shrub species <i>Salix richardsonii, Salix pulchra, Salix glauca, Betula nana</i>, and <i>Vaccinium uliginosum</i> and dwarf-shrub species including <i>Dryas octopetala, Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Cassiope tetragona, Salix polaris, Salix reticulata, Salix rotundifolia</i>, and <i>Salix phlebophylla</i> with an understory that can be sparse to thick, with graminoids <i>Carex bigelowii, Arctagrostis latifolia</i>, forbs such as <i>Petasites frigidus</i>, and lichens <i>Flavocetraria cucullata, Flavocetraria nivalis</i> and <i>Thamnolia vermicularis</i>; <b><i>Dryas</i> tundra</b> common on exposed, windswept areas, dominated by <i>Dryas octopetala</i> and/or <i>Dryas integrifolia</i>, often with graminoids <i>Anthoxanthum monticola ssp. alpinum</i> and <i>Carex scirpoidea</i>; and <b>Sparse dry-site dwarf-shrub tundra</b> on extreme exposure bedrock and unstable substrates, typically vascular vegetation is <25% cover and characterized by <i>Dryas octopetala, Dryas integrifolia, Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium uliginosum, Loiseleuria procumbens</i>, and/or <i>Salix phlebophylla</i>. Foliose and fruticose lichens may dominate (with well above 25% cover) and include <i>Umbilicaria</i> spp., <i>Rhizocarpon geographicum, Cladina stellaris, Racomitrium lanuginosum, Flavocetraria</i> spp., and/or <i>Alectoria ochroleuca</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40535-{38CB107C-18B6-476C-8C70-BCEB94965C49}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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