| Ecoregions: Central interior |
| Elevations: 850-1500m |
| Latitudes: 50-53 degrees |
| |
| Description: |
- Occurs in the high plateau of the Chilcotin and the lower
Quesnel highlands in the rainshadow of the highest coast mountains
- Climate is both dry and cold, and thus forests are of low productivity and very fragile
- Grades into SBS in the north, IDF in the south, and into MS at higher elevations
- Relic old-growth white spruce stands (considered the climatic climax) are interspersed with wet meadows,
and extensive lodgepole pine and trembling aspen forests resulting from past catastrophic wildfires. In some areas lodgepole pine is considered a
fire climax
- Understory is dominated by lichens, heathermoss, pinegrass, and kinnikinnik
- Lichens provide critical winter range for caribou
|
| Representative Species: |
| Drier phase |
| |
Trees
|
| |
Pinus contorta (Lodgepole pine) |
| |
Populus tremuloides (trembling aspen) |
| |
Shrubs |
| |
Juniperus communis (common juniper) |
| |
Sheperdia canadensis (soopolallie) |
| |
Arctostaphlos uva-ursi (kinnikinnik) |
| |
Rosa acicularis (prickly rose) |
| |
Herbs |
| |
Linnaea borealis (twin flower) |
| |
Solidago spathulata (spike-like goldenrod) |
| |
Carex richardsonii (Richardson's sedge) |
| |
Oryzopsis pungens (short-awned rice grass) |
| |
| Wetter Phase |
| |
Trees |
| |
Picea glauca (white spruce) |
| |
Shrubs |
| |
Lonicera involucrata (black twinberry) |
| |
Salix glauca (grey-leafed willow) |
| |
Betula glandulosa (scrub birch) |
| |
Juniperus communis (common juniper) |
| |
Sheperdia canadensis (soopolallie) |
| |
Arctostaphlos uva-ursi (kinnikinnik) |
| |
Rosa acicularis (prickly rose) |
| |
Herbs |
| |
Petasites frigidus var. palmatus (coltsfoot) |
| |
Linnaea borealis (twin flower) |
| |
Frageria virginiana (wild strawberry) |
| |
Cornus canadensis (bunchberry) |
| |
| Potential Restoration Species: |
| Drier phase |
| |
Trees |
| |
Pinus contorta (Lodgepole pine) |
| |
Populus tremuloides (trembling aspen) |
| |
Shrubs |
| |
Juniperus communis (common juniper) |
| |
Sheperdia canadensis (soopolallie) |
| |
Arctostaphlos uva-ursi (kinnikinnik) |
| |
Rosa acicularis (prickly rose) |
| |
Herbs |
| |
Carex richardsonii (Richardson's sedge) |
| |
Oryzopsis pungens (short-awned rice grass) |
| |
Calamagrostis rubescens (pinegrass) |
| |
| Wetter Phase |
| |
Trees |
| |
Picea glauca (white spruce) |
| |
Shrubs |
| |
Lonicera involucrata (black twinberry) |
| |
Salix glauca (grey-leafed willow) |
| |
Betula glandulosa (scrub birch) |
| |
Juniperus communis (common juniper) |
| |
Sheperdia canadensis (soopolallie) |
| |
Arctostaphlos uva-ursi (kinnikinnik) |
| |
Rosa acicularis (prickly rose) |
| |
Herbs |
| |
Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint) |
| |
Carex disperma (soft-leaved sedge) |
| |
| Meidinger, D. and Pojar, J. 1991. Ecosystems of British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Forests. 330 pp.
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Srs/SRseries.htm |
