Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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NE-V18: Jack Pine - Black Spruce - Blueberry
Summary: A conifer stand with jack pine providing 21-40% cover in the overstorey. Similar to NE-V17 (jack pine-black spruce-feathermoss), black spruce produces a secondary canopy, providing up to 20% cover (in 1/3 to 2/3 of sample plots). The understorey contains more black spruce (11-20% cover) and balsam fir (6-10% cover), and no jack pine.

The shrub layer contains fewer species than the previous vegetation type, but the blueberry species provide more cover. Velvetleaf blueberry (11-20% cover) and lowbush blueberry (6-10% cover) are the dominant species, with bush honeysuckle providing less than 5% cover. In 1/3 to 2/3 of sample plots, sheep laurel provided 11-20% cover. Other than the occasional serviceberry (<1% cover), no other shrubs were recorded from this vegetation type.

The herb layer is poor, containing most of the characteristic boreal forest species, but none provides more than 5% cover. In less than 2/3 of sample plots, creeping snowberry, trailing arbutus, and bracken fern were also present, each providing 2-5% cover.

The forest floor is covered with feathermoss carpets interspersed with patches of coniferous and deciduous litter. Schreber's feathermoss provides more than 40% cover, while Dicranum mosses occur in scattered patches of up to 5% cover. Reindeer lichen and other Cladonia species provide up to 5% cover.

Soil and Ecosite Types: The Jack Pine-Black Spruce-Blueberry Vegetation Type (NE-V18) occurs on coarse, acidic soils, most commonly dry to fresh sandy soils (S1) and dry to fresh coarse sandy loamy soils (S5); it may also occur on very shallow, discontinuous organic soils over bedrock (SS1). The NE-V18 vegetation type may be found on ecosites ES 18 (Jack Pine-White Pine-Red Pine), ES 1p (Black Spruce-Jack Pine-Very Shallow Soil-Species Poor), ES 2 (Jack Pine-Coarse Soil), and ES 4 (Black Spruce-Jack Pine-Coarse Soil).

Trees:

overstorey

jack pine (Pinus banksiana) [8]
black spruce (Picea mariana) [6]
white birch (Betula papyrifera) [3]
red pine (Pinus resinosa) [1]
white pine (Pinus strobus) [1]
trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) [1]

regeneration

black spruce (Picea mariana)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
white birch (Betula papyrifera)

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)

low shrubs

velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)

Dwarf Shrubs & Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)
trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens)

forbs

bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)

Ferns and Fern Allies:

bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
dusky broom moss (or curly heron's-bill) (Dicranum fuscescens)
northern naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium ciliare)
naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium pulcherrimum)

Lichens:

gray reindeer lichen (Cladina rangiferina)
star-tipped reindeer lichen (or coral lichen) (Cladina stellaris)
mealy pixie cup (Cladonia chlorophaea)
common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)

Note: Species listed above are taken from the Vegetation type description and the Species Percentage Cover by Vegetation Type Tables (pg. D 34). Species are listed in order of most cover and abundance.