Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V22: Trembling Aspen - White Birch - White Spruce - Dwarf Raspberry

Summary: A hardwood stand dominated by trembling aspen in the canopy layer, with a variety of other hardwood and softwood species, including largetooth aspen, white birch, and white spruce, occurring with 30-50% frequency. The subcanopy layer includes white birch, balsam fir, white spruce, and red maple, though no species occurs with more than 50% frequency. The regeneration layer is dominated by red maple, balsam fir, and white birch, with less frequent occurrence of trembling aspen and white spruce.

The understory is dominated by beaked hazel, northern wild raisin, and mountain maple in the tall shrub layer, and Canada fly honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle, and lowbush blueberry in the low shrub layer. The herb layer contains a variety of dwarf shrubs, herbs, and pteridophytes (ferns & fern allies) including dwarf raspberry, the characteristic boreal forest species, wild sarsaparilla, bracken fern, largeleaf aster, ground pine, and mountain rice grass.

This vegetation type is similar to C-V23, however, C-V22 is characterized by the common presence of red maple in the subcanopy and regeneration, dwarf raspberry, bunchberry, and mountain ricegrass in the understorey, but lacks significant amounts of white birch, white pine, and Schreber's feathermoss.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Trembling Aspen-White Birch-White Spruce-Dwarf Raspberry Vegetation Type (C-V22) occurs most commonly on fresh to very fresh (S7) or moderately moist to moist (S11) coarse loamy to silty soils, but may occasionally be found on moister soil types. This vegetation type was described from Site Regions 4E and 5E, mainly from Site District 5E-10 (northern Algonquin Park area), and with only 20% of sample plots from Site Region 4E. C-V22 can be found on a variety of ecosite types, including types C-ES 17.2 (Poplar-White Birch, fresh to moist), C-ES 18.1 (Poplar-White Birch-White Spruce-Balsam Fir, dry to moderately fresh), C-ES 18.2 (Poplar-White Birch-White Spruce-Balsam Fir, fresh to moist), C-ES 19.2 (Poplar-Jack Pine-White Spruce-Black Spruce, fresh to moist), and C-ES 20.2 (White Pine-Red Pine-White Spruce-White Birch-Trembling Aspen, fresh to moist), and less frequently on ecosite types C-ES 19.1 (Poplar-Jack Pine-White Spruce-Black Spruce, dry to moderately fresh) and C-ES 35 (Lowland Hardwood, fresh to very moist).

Note: In sample plots, species listed below occurred with 50% frequency or more, except for those in square brackets, which occurred with 30-49% frequency.

Trees:

overstorey

trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)
[largetooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]
[red pine (Pinus resinosa)]

subcanopy

[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[largetooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]

regeneration

red maple (Acer rubrum)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
white birch (Betula papyrifera)
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)
mountain maple (Acer spicatum)

low shrubs

Canada fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
northern wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)
[lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)]

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens)
[twinflower (Linnaea borealis)]

forbs

wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
starflower (Trientalis borealis)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)
[rose twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus)]
[goldthread (Coptis trifolia)]

graminoids

mountain rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia)
[northern shorthusk (Brachyelytrum aristosum)]

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)
[spinulose woodfern (Dryopteris carthusiana)]

clubmosses

ground pine (Lycopodium dendroideum or Lycopodium obscurum)

Bryophytes:

[glossy moss (Plagiothecium laetum)]
[Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)]

Lichens:

[no species occur more than 30% of the time]