Vegetation Zones and Their Relationship to the Soils and Climate of the Upper Columbia Valley

Abstract

The study reported deals r.ii;::trij.xlJ"ii . The vegetation of the region ha^" been broken down into three major vegetation zones, namely, Douglas-fir, cedar/hemlock, and spruce/fir. The Douglas-fir zone was divided into two sub-zones, groveland and forest.

Plant Communities of the Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, and Their Relationships to Soils

“…Larix occidentalis, which is an abundant seral tree on the east side of the Okanagan Trench, does not occur in the study area. Picea glauca, which is often associated with Pseudotsuga in the Rocky Mountains (Daubenmire 1943, Mc-Lean andHolland 1958), was not found in the Similkameen.…”

“…The Pseudotsuga-Festuca habitat type also has been found in the Kettle and Nicola Valleys. It has been described from the Rocky Mountain Trench near Windermere where it was called the Douglas-fir-wheatgrass association of the Douglas-fir Groveland subzone (McLean and Holland 1958). In contrast to the above association, I have restricted the P seudotsuga-Agropyron association to sites without Calamagrostis rubescens or Festuca idahoensis.…”

Western redcedar—a literature review.

“…The latter corresponds to the Daubenmires' Thuja plicatal Pachistima myrsinites community, but it includes a Menziesia ferruginea phase not present in Idaho. Two unnamed communities described by McLean and Holland (1958) in the upper Columbia River Valley also correspond to the Dau benmires' ThujalOplopanax and Th ujalPa c h is t im a co m m u n it i es. Bailey (1966) described a Thuja plica talAdiantum peda tum-A thyrium filix-femina community in the southern Oregon Coast Ranges of eastern Coos and western Douglas Counties.…”

“…Multiple attributes seem to be responsible, for redcedar invades disturbed areas as widely distributed seeds but regenerates vegetatively in undisturbed areas, tolerating competition in both situations (Kessell 1979). Nevertheless, redcedar is usually considered a climax or near-climax species (see Munger 1940, Guiguet 1953, Schmidt 1955, McLean and Holland 1958, Mueggler 1965. Idaho western white pine stands are slowly replaced by a western hemlock-redcedar climax (Watt 1960 Western hemlock may eventually replace western redcedar in some decadent stands of southeastern Alaska (see Gregory 1957).…”

“…'From Orloci (1961, Krajina (1969), Packee (1976). 3From McLean and Holland (1958), Bell (1965), Krajina (1969). 'From Aller (1960), Pfister et al (1977).…”