Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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NW-V28: Jack Pine / Low Shrub

Summary: An even-aged conifer stand of fire origin with a pure canopy of jack pine. Other conifer species are absent and trembling aspen was noted in only 10% of sample plots. Some balsam fir and black spruce appear in shrub layer, though these species are outnumbered by the low shrubs. The shrub layer is usually dominated by low ericaceous shrubs, such as blueberries, especially in western regions of northwestern Ontario. Towards the east, however, bush honeysuckle becomes the dominant shrub species. Although dominance by low shrubs is typical, tall shrubs, such as serviceberries, beaked hazel, mountain alder, and occasionally mountain maple, may be abundant on some sites.

The herb layer is dominated by wild sarsaparilla, especially in eastern stands; most of the characteristic boreal forest species are present, except starflower. Largeleaf aster and cowwheat may also be present. The forest floor is covered by a combination of conifer litter and extensive feathermoss patches.

This vegetation type is similar to the Jack Pine Mixedwood/Shrub Rich (NW-V17) type, but the latter is characterized by an uneven-aged stand with considerable amounts of trembling aspen or white pine in the canopy. It is also similar to the Jack Pine/Ericaceous Shrub/Feathermoss (NW-V29) type, which can be distinguished by an almost continuous carpet of Schreber's feathermoss on the forest floor.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Jack Pine/Low Shrub Vegetation Type (NW-V28) is usually found on Ecosite Types ES 13 (Jack Pine-Conifer, dry-moderately fresh, sandy soil) and ES 20 (Spruce-Pine/Feathermoss, fresh, sandy-coarse loamy soil). It occurs on rapidly drained, dry to fresh, coarse-textured upland mineral soils (mainly S1, S2, and S3).

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:

jack pine (Pinus banksiana) [10]
trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) [1]

regeneration:

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

Shrubs:

tall shrubs:

serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)
beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)
mountain alder (Alnus viridis subsp. crispa)
mountain maple (Acer spicatum)

low shrubs:

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

Dwarf Shrubs & Herbs:

dwarf shrubs:

twinflower (Linnaea borealis)

forbs:

wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
largeleaf aster (Aster macrophyllus)
cow wheat (Melampyrum lineare)
bluebead lily (Clintoinia borealis)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)

Lichens:

gray reindeer lichen (Cladina rangiferina)