Northern Softwood Association

• SPRUCE–FIR • NORTHERN WHITE PINE–MIXED CONIFER • SPRUCE–HEMLOCK • NORTHERN WHITE CEDAR • ASPEN–BIRCH (EARLY SUCCESSIONAL)

Selected Northern Softwood Habitat Photo: Stewart DesMeules Association Species IDENTIFICATION Softwood species comprise FFMB PRIORITY KEY HABITAT at least 75% of the stocking. Spruce-Fir is the most SPECIES FEATURES common forest type within this association. Northern Bay-breasted Warbler Dense conifers Softwoods are typically characterized by mixtures of red spruce, white spruce, or black spruce and balsam fir in Blackburnian Warbler Tall trees, large hemlocks pure stands or with other species. Common associates Black-backed Woodpecker Large dead/dying trees include yellow birch, paper birch, and other northern hardwood species as well as hemlock, northern white Boreal Chickadee Snags cedar, and white pine. This association currently covers Dense conifer understory Magnolia Warbler close to 6 million acres in Maine. regeneration ECOLOGY Spruce-Fir and other Northern Softwood Northern Parula Moist forest, bearded lichen forest types frequently share the same landscape as Northern Hardwoods, but are found on cooler sites— Olive-sided Flycatcher Gaps and snags notably valley bottoms, high-elevation areas, and along the coast—or where soils are somewhat poorly to poorly OTHER WILDLIFE KEY HABITAT SPECIES FEATURES drained. Stands dominated by white spruce are common American Three-toed Large decaying trees, black on former agricultural land in northern and eastern Woodpecker spruce stands Maine as well as in the spray zone on coastal islands. Tall stands of spruce, budworm Cape May Warbler WILDLIFE Several bird species—including Spruce specialist Grouse, Gray Jay, Black-backed Wood- pecker, and Dense conifers with low Spruce Grouse Bay-breasted, Magnolia and branches Cape May Warblers—are found Open forest with brushy almost exclusively in Spruce-Fir White-throated Sparrow clearings forests. American marten is Open forest, old crow nests strongly associated with this Merlin forest type, either in pure or cavities stands or in Mixed Hard- Hollow trees and logs, American Marten wood Spruce–Fir forests. dense regenerating softwoods Younger Spruce–Fir is Northern Flying Squirrel Cavity trees critical for snowshoe Dense hardwood or softwood hare, the primary prey of Snowshoe Hare Canada lynx. Relatively regeneration mature to mature stands Moose Wetlands are critical deer wintering Occurrence of Adequate winter browse, coni- areas in northern Maine Northern Softwood White-tailed Deer (See Table). fer cover to reduce snowpack

Information from Forestry for Maine Birds: A Guidebook for Foresters Managing Woodlots “With Birds in Mind.” Maine Audubon 2017. Available at maineaudubon.org/ffmb.