Classification and ordination of southern boreal forests from the Hondo – Slave Lake area of central Alberta

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Botany
• Main Author: Roi, George H. La
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1992
• Subjects: Plant Science; Canada; Ribes; Carex aquatilis; Rubus chamaemorus; Slave Lake; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b92-080; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b92-080

Sixty-five undisturbed stands, spanning a wide range of physical habitats in the southern boreal subzone, were sampled in central Alberta using relevés, then classified with two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and ordinated with detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA), based on the estimated midsummer percent cover of 100 vascular plant species. Six floristically and ecologically distinct community types were recognized along soil-moisture and texture–nutrient gradients: oligotrophic PINUS BANKSIANA/ASTER LAEVIS on warm, xeromesic, nutrient-poor sand deposits; oligo-mesotrophic PINUS BANKSIANA/CORNUS CANADENSIS on cooler, xeromesic to submesic, low-nutrient sands; mesotrophic PICEA GLAUCA – POPULUS TREMULOIDES/ELYMUS INNOVATUS on mesic, medium-nutrient tills; eu-mesotrophic PICEA GLAUCA – POPULUS TREMULOIDES/RIBES TRISTE on mesic to hygromesic, nutrient-rich alluvium and till; oligotrophic PICEA MARIANA/RUBUS CHAMAEMORUS on cool, hygromesic to hygric, nutrient-poor peatlands; oligotrophic PICEA MARIANA/CAREX AQUATILIS on hygric to hydric, low-nutrient peatlands. The six community types and 19 species groups elucidated by TWINSPAN occupy distinct sectors on the two-dimensional DECORANA ordination that are associated with differences in moisture and nutrient availability. The community types are ecologically vicarious with boreal forest assemblages previously described for Alaska, central and eastern Canada, and northwestern Europe. Key words: cover, ecological series, gradient, moisture, nutrients, plant community, soil, vascular plant species, vegetation.