Seward Wetland Mapping Project

Chugach National Forest Plant Community Descriptions

From: R.L. DeVelice, C.J. Hubbard, K. Boggs, S. Boudreau, M. Potkin, T. Boucher and C. Wertheim.  1999.  Plant Community Types of the Chugach National Forest: southcentral Alaska.  USDA Forest Service, Chugach National Forest, Alaska Region Technical Publication R10-TP-76.  Anchorage, AK.  375pp. (download 3.5Mb .pdf)

Picea sitchensis/Equisetum arvense

(Sitka spruce/common horsetail)

(PICSIT/EQUARV; 4 sites)

IA1a. Closed needleleaf forest, Sitka spruce

A Sitka spruce / Field horsetail forest along the Resurrection River.

Vegetation- Picea sitchensis (Sitka spruce) is the dominant conifer with

Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (black cottonwood) occasionally present

as a minor associate. Shrubs are sparse in this type, but Alnus crispa ssp.

sinuata (Sitka alder) and Vaccinium ovalifolium (early blueberry) are often

present. Low and dwarf shrubs are absent. Equisetum arvense (common

horsetail) is abundant and is the major indicator for this type. Other

herbaceous species which may be present but inconsistently represented

include Rubus pedatus (fiveleaf bramble), Streptopus amplexifolius

(twistedstalk), Gymnocarpium dryopteris (oak fern), and Athyrium filixfemina

(lady fern).

Physical setting- Sitka spruce/common horsetail is an incidental type that

occurs on flood plains. The few sites sampled are on flat terrain at 50 feet

or less elevation.

Seward Wetland Mapping Project :
Contact: Mike Gracz
Kenai Watershed Forum 
Homer Field Office
Old Town Professional Center
3430 Main Street Suite B1
Homer, AK  99603
907-235-2218

03 October 2006 12:33