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CEGL000383 Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: White Spruce / Grouse Whortleberry Forest
Colloquial Name: White Spruce / Grouse Whortleberry Forest
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This white spruce community type is found in the Black Hills region of the United States. It had been found at elevations ranging from 1737-2040 m, where it occurs on calcareous, loamy soils on moderate slopes. The overstory is dominated by successfully reproducing Picea glauca with some mature Populus tremuloides and Pinus ponderosa remaining from earlier seral stages. The shrub layer is the most conspicuous understory layer. It is often dominated by Vaccinium scoparium. In some stands other shrubs may be more abundant, with only scattered Vaccinium scoparium. Other shrubs that are typically found are Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Juniperus communis, Mahonia repens, Spiraea betulifolia, and Symphoricarpos albus. Major herbaceous species are Achillea millefolium, Galium boreale, Fragaria virginiana, Lathyrus ochroleucus, and Oryzopsis asperifolia. Mosses and lichens are rare to common.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This type is only known from the Black Hills. Its relationship to more boreal types in western Canada (especially Alberta) is unclear. In the Black Hills, this type overlaps floristically and spatially with ~Picea glauca / Linnaea borealis Forest (CEGL000382)$$, often occurring on upper, drier slopes above stands of that type.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The overstory of this community is dominated by Picea glauca. This species is the only tree species that successfully reproduces. Mature Populus tremuloides and Pinus ponderosa are often present as remnants from earlier successional stages. There is a conspicuous shrub layer that is usually dominated by Vaccinium scoparium. In some stands other shrubs may be more abundant, with Vaccinium scoparium only present in scattered locations. Other shrubs that are typically found are Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Juniperus communis, Mahonia repens, Spiraea betulifolia, and Symphoricarpos albus. Major herbaceous species are Achillea millefolium, Galium boreale, Fragaria virginiana, Lathyrus ochroleucus, and Oryzopsis asperifolia. Mosses and lichens are rare to common. Hoffman and Alexander (1987) measured five stands and found the coverage by strata to be shrubs 50%, herbaceous 30%, and mosses and lichens 12%.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This community has been identified in the Cathedral Spires area of the Black Hills. The sites it occupies are cool and moist and usually higher than other forests in the Black Hills. The soils are loamy and often calcareous. This community has been found to occur from 1737 m to 2040 m (Hoffman and Alexander 1987).
Geographic Range: This white spruce community type is found in the Black Hills region of South Dakota and Wyoming in the United States.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: SD, WY
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683276
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1G2
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 1 Forest & Woodland Class | C01 | 1 |
| Subclass | 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass | S15 | 1.B |
| Formation | 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F008 | 1.B.2 |
| Division | 1.B.2.Nb Rocky Mountain Forest & Woodland Division | D194 | 1.B.2.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.2.Nb.5 Subalpine Fir - Engelmann Spruce - Whitebark Pine Rocky Mountain Forest Macrogroup | M020 | 1.B.2.Nb.5 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Nb.5.f White Spruce - Douglas-fir Central Rocky Mountain Forest Group | G345 | 1.B.2.Nb.5.f |
| Alliance | A3623 White Spruce Black Hills Forest Alliance | A3623 | 1.B.2.Nb.5.f |
| Association | CEGL000383 White Spruce / Grouse Whortleberry Forest | CEGL000383 | 1.B.2.Nb.5.f |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Picea glauca / Juniperus communis Plant Association, Vaccinium scoparium Phase (Johnston 1987)
? Picea glauca / Linnaea borealis Plant Association, Vaccinium scoparium Phase (Johnston 1987)
= Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Forest (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
= Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Forest (Marriott and Faber-Langendoen 2000)
? Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Habitat Type (Hoffman and Alexander 1987)
? Picea glauca / Linnaea borealis Plant Association, Vaccinium scoparium Phase (Johnston 1987)
= Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Forest (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
= Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Forest (Marriott and Faber-Langendoen 2000)
? Picea glauca / Vaccinium scoparium Habitat Type (Hoffman and Alexander 1987)
- BHCI [Black Hills Community Inventory]. 1999. Unpublished element occurrence and plot data collected during the Black Hills Community Inventory. Available upon request from the South Dakota Natural Heritage Program, Pierre, and Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, Laramie.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
- Hoffman, G. R., and R. R. Alexander. 1987. Forest vegetation of the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota and Wyoming: A habitat type classification. Research Paper RM-276. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 48 pp.
- Johnston, B. C. 1987. Plant associations of Region Two: Potential plant communities of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. R2-ECOL-87-2. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Lakewood, CO. 429 pp.
- Lynn, R., M. Larson, D. Hoeft, L. Todd, T. Raetz, L. Fager, and G. Barranco. No date. Black Hills National Forest ecological land units study. USDA Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest, SD.
- Marriott, H. J., D. Faber-Langendoen, A. McAdams, D. Stutzman, and B. Burkhart. 1999. The Black Hills Community Inventory: Final report. The Nature Conservancy, Midwest Conservation Science Center, Minneapolis, MN.
- Marriott, H. J., and D. Faber-Langendoen. 2000. The Black Hills community inventory. Volume 2: Plant community descriptions. The Nature Conservancy, Midwest Conservation Science Center and Association for Biodiversity Information, Minneapolis, MN. 326 pp.
- Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
- SDNHP [South Dakota Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data. South Dakota Natural Heritage Program, Pierre, SD.
- Steinauer, G. A. 1981. A classification of the Cercocarpus montanus, Quercus macrocarpa, Populus tremuloides, and Picea glauca habitat types of the Black Hills National Forest. Unpublished thesis, University of South Dakota, Brookings. 95 pp.
- Thilenius, J. F. 1972. Classification of the deer habitat in the ponderosa pine forest of the Black Hills, South Dakota. Research Paper RM-91. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 28 pp.
- WNDD [Wyoming Natural Diversity Database]. No date. Unpublished data on file. Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.