Lutz spruce / Field horsetail - Oakfern
	Picea X lutzii / Equisetum arvense - Gymnocarpium dryopteris
	n = 12
	I.A.2. Open Needleleaf Forest
	Ecosystem: Discharge Slope

Lutz spruce (Picea X lutzii) forest types are poorly documented in Alaska.  On Chugach National Forest, a somewhat similar type was described by DeVelice, et. al. (1999) (Lutz spruce – Oakfern, PICLUT-GYMDRY) but with very little field horsetail representation.

Lutz spruce / field horsetail (Equisetum arvense) – oakfern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris) plant communities are primarily located on the discharge slopes of terraced moraines, which are more common south of Clam Gulch.  One of the sites visited, however, is located near Mackey Lake, east of Soldotna, and two others are near the coast north of Nikiski.   This community occurs at the upper edge of the groundwater discharge zone, and often does not indicate a regulatory wetland.

A tall, moderately open, forest tops a lush herbaceous understory of horsetail, with an open oakfern component.  Bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensiscan be common, though scattered, and Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis) is present.  Barclay's willow (Salix barclayi) may also be common, scattered, or absent.  

The organic horizon is generally thin, but at the site near Soldotna, it was thicker than 150 cm.  Either the water table is, or redoximorphic features are, always encountered in the soil profile, but frequently deeper than 30 cm (one foot).  The pH at one site was strongly acid (4.6).  This plant community does not always indicate wetland conditions; only five of 12 sites included in this analysis could be classified as regulatory wetlands.

Table 1. Frequency of occurrence and hydric status of soil series named at NRCS holes.  Bold type indicates soils in the NRCS Alaska hydric soils list. 

Table 2.  Summary of plant frequency and average cover for plants occurring in more than 50% of plots.

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