Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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NW-V31: Black Spruce - Jack Pine / Tall Shrub / Feathermoss

Summary: A conifer stand dominated by black spruce and jack pine in the canopy. Balsam fir plays a minor role in the canopy, occurring in only 30% of sample plots, but is more abundant, along with black spruce, in the regeneration layer. White pine and trembling aspen occur even less frequently in the overstorey. The shrub layer is relatively poor and is dominated by low shrubs, including blueberries, bush honeysuckle, and prickly wild rose.

The herb layer contains creeping snowberry, dwarf raspberry, and all of the characteristic boreal forest species, plus some wild sarsaparilla, goldthread, and largeleaf aster. The forest floor is covered with extensive colonies of feathermoss species interrupted by patches of conifer litter.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Black Spruce-Jack Pine/Tall Shrub/Feathermoss Vegetation Type (NW-V31) occurs on Ecosite Types ES 20 (Spruce-Pine/Feathermoss, fresh, sandy-coarse loamy soil), ES 25 (Pine-Spruce/ Feathermoss, fresh, silty soil), ES 26 (Spruce-Pine/Feathermoss, fresh, fine loamy-clayey soil), and ES 31 (Spruce-Pine/Feathermoss, moist, silty-clayey soil). It can be found on a wide range of soil types, but is found most commonly on upland, deep, fresh, coarse-textured, mineral soils (including S3, S6, SS6, SS8).

Note: The percentage of sample plots that contained overstorey tree species is given in square brackets after each scientific name. Other species are listed in order of frequency, according to the NW-FEC manual.

Trees:

overstorey:

black spruce (Picea mariana) [10]
jack pine (Pinus banksiana) [9]
balsam fir (Abies balsamea) [3]
white spruce (Picea glauca) [2]
trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) [1]

regeneration:

balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
black spruce (Picea mariana)

Shrubs:

tall shrubs:

serviceberries (Amerlanchier spp.)

low shrubs:

velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis)

Dwarf Shrubs & Herbs:

dwarf shrubs:

twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)
dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens)

forbs:

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

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis)
stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens)