Acadian Temperate Forest

General Description

The Acadian Temperate Forest zone covers an area The main tree species include balsam fir ( Abies of approximately 133,000 km², including the balsamea ), red maple ( Acer rubrum ), paper birch Maritime Provinces and a small portion of Quebec (Betula papyrifera ), yellow birch ( B. alleghaniensis ), adjacent to the New Brunswick border. The Atlantic red spruce ( Picea rubens ), sugar maple ( Acer Ocean generates a pronounced maritime influence saccharum ) and white spruce ( P. glauca ). Black on the cool temperate climate. Contemporary spruce ( P. mariana ) often dominates stands on landcover is dominated by forests, agriculture and nutrient-limited sites. Eastern white cedar ( Thuja numerous water bodies, but settlements and occidentalis ) is a common companion species, industrial activities are significant contributors to the except in Nova Scotia. Eastern white pine ( Pinus landscape mosaic. strobus ), eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ), red oak ( Quercus rubra ) and American beech ( Fagus Vegetation grandifolia ) are occasional canopy dominants or associates in the southern part of the zone, and at

lower elevations in the north. Alluvial forests Productive closed forests dominate most upland sites, although open forests and woodlands are dominated by silver maple (Acer saccharinum ), white sometimes associated with rock outcrops and very ash ( F. americana ), red maple, sugar maple, white dry soils. Forest canopies can be dominated by elm ( Ulmus americana ), white spruce and/ or yellow evergreen coniferous, cold- broad-leaved birch occur on stable floodplain terraces. Black ash or a mixture of conifer – broad-leaved species. Stand (Fraxinus nigra ) and balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ) are common floodplain dominants in structure is typically multi-storied and uneven-aged, cooler portions of the zone. but can be single-storied after stand-replacing disturbance. Depending on overstory composition and site conditions, understory and herb In addition to regenerating trees, common layers vary from dense to sparse. Understories are understory species include striped maple ( Acer generally rich in cold-deciduous broad-leaved pensylvanicum ), velvet-leaved ( , perennial herbs, tree regeneration and myrtilloides ), fly-honeysuckle ( Lonicera bryophytes. canadensis ), wild lily-of-the-valley ( Maianthemum canadense ), northern starflower ( Lysimachia Anthropogenic disturbance, including industrial borealis ), yellow clintonia ( Clintonia borealis ), forestry, is a dominant factor in contemporary forest bunchberry ( Cornus canadensis ), wild sarsaparilla dynamics, influencing forest composition and age (Aralia nudicaulis ), common wood-sorrel (Oxalis structure. Windthrow, ice loading and insect montana ), rose twisted-stalk ( Streptopus infestations are the most widespread forms of lanceolatus ), sedges (e.g., drooping woodland sedge natural disturbance; wildfire is generally not a factor. [Carex arctata ], New England sedge [ C. novae-

angliae ], fibrous-root sedge [C. communis ]) and broad-leaved cattail ( Typha latifolia ), bulrushes wood ferns (i.e., evergreen wood fern [ Dryopteris (Schoenoplectus spp.), common spikerush intermedia ], spinulose wood fern [ D. carthusiana ], (Eleocharis palustris ), American sweetflag ( Acorus mountain wood fern [ D. campyloptera ]). Bryophytes americanus ), Canada rush ( Juncus canadensis ) and epiphytic lichens can be particularly abundant, and/or knotted rush ( J. nodosus ). Wet meadows especially in older stands and in areas with a very form along slow-moving streams; they usually contain bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis humid climate. The most common bryophyte species canadensis ), reed canarygrass ( Phalaris include red-stemmed feathermoss ( Pleurozium arundinacea ), and/or prairie cordgrass ( Sporobolus schreberi), stairstep moss ( Hylocomium splendens ) michauxianus ). In deeper quiet waters, aquatic and three-lobed whipwort ( Bazzania triolobata ). vegetation often includes fragrant water lily (Nymphaea odorata ) and pond lilies (Nuphar spp.). Wetlands are common throughout mainland Nova

Scotia, the lowlands of New Brunswick, and localized Shallow marshes and wetter fens are characterized areas of Quebec, Cape Breton Island and Prince by sedges (e.g., water sedge [ Carex aquatilis ], lake Edward Island. All wetland classes (swamps, sedge [ Carex lacustris ], Michaux’s sedge [ C. marshes, fens and bogs) occur, including both michauxiana ], smooth twig-rush [ Cladium freshwater and saltwater/brackish marshes and mariscoides ]), cottongrasses ( Eriophorum spp.), bog fens. Bedrock basins, poorly-drained flats, sheltered buckbean ( Menyanthes trifoliata ) and mannagrasses coastal areas, and the margins of rivers and other (Glyceria ssp.). Where water tables fluctuate and freshwater bodies are typical wetland sites. some root zone drying occurs during the growing season, fens may include shrubs such as sweet gale, Treed swamps with moderate to rich nutrient status leatherleaf ( Chamaedaphne calyculata ), bog willow are typically dominated by eastern white cedar, (Salix pedicellaris ), as well as stunted red maple, white and/or black ash, tamarack ( Larix laricina ), red tamarack and other tree species. maple, balsam fir, yellow birch or, less often, red spruce and eastern hemlock. Black spruce is Rich open fens are localized to areas of calcareous particularly characteristic of nutrient-poor wetlands. bedrock. On these sites, alder-leaved buckthorn Shrub swamps are characterized by speckled alder (Rhamnus alnifolia ), shrubby cinquefoil ( Dasiphora (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa ), mountain holly ( Ilex fruticosa ), green-keeled cottongrass ( Eriophorum viridicarinatum ), spike muhly ( Muhlenbergia mucronata ), common winterberry ( I. verticillata ), glomerata ), yellow sedge ( Carex flava ), Kalm’s sweet gale ( Myrica gale ), wild raisin ( Viburnum lobelia ( Lobelia kalmii ) and several rare orchids are nudum) , white meadowsweet (Spirea alba ) and a characteristic. Brown mosses such as ribbed bog variety of willows (e.g., balsam willow [ Salix moss ( Aulacomnium palustre ), golden fuzzy fen moss pyrifolia ], shining willow [ S. lucida ]), sedges (e.g., (Tomentypnum nitens ) and hook mosses retrorse sedge [ Carex retrorsa ], sallow sedge [C. (Drepanocladus spp.) usually dominate between lurida ]) and forbs (e.g., white-panicled aster peat moss ( Sphagnum spp.) hummocks. [Symphyotrichum lanceolatum ], Virginia St. John’s- wort [ Hypericum virginicum ], giant goldenrod Nutrient-poor bogs and fens include stunted black [Solidago gigantean ]). spruce and tamarack, as well as common Labrador tea, leatherleaf, velvet-leaved blueberry, early Moist to wet heaths are characterized by rhodora lowbush blueberry ( Vaccinium angustifolium ), (Rhododendron canadense ), black huckleberry cranberries ( Vaccinium oxycoccus , V. macrocarpon ), ( ),bog huckleberry ( G. pale bog laurel ( Kalmia polifolia ), glaucous-leaved bigeloviana ), common juniper (Juniperus communis ), bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia var. latifolia ), common Labrador tea (Rhododendron few-seeded sedge ( Carex oligosperma ), coastal groenlandicum), sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) sedge ( C. exilis ) and tufted clubrush ( Trichophorum and cinnamon fern ( Osmunda cinnamomea ). cespitosum ).

Deeper freshwater marshes usually occur on the Upland grasslands and shrublands are uncommon margins of water bodies. They can be dominated by throughout much of the landscape except on abandoned fields, very dry sites and in coastal areas.

Temperate and boreal heathlands are relatively mm in west-central New Brunswick to >1650 mm conspicuous on larger dunes in Prince Edward Island, along the outer Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Rainfall and within the western interior and along the significantly exceeds snowfall. Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. They are usually dominated by huckleberries, black crowberry Physiography, Geology, Topography, Soils (Empetrum nigrum ), pink crowberry (E. eamesii ), and Land Cover broom crowberry (Corema conradii ), common juniper or sometimes sheep laurel. Most coastal This zone occurs in the eastern mainland portion of grasslands have been disturbed by domestic grazing the Appalachian physiographic region. It occupies and past settlement, but American beachgrass most of the Chaleur Uplands, the New Brunswick (Ammophila breviligulata ) and, in wet areas, smooth black sedge ( Carex nigra ) form natural stands in and Atlantic Highlands, the Maritime Plain, the some locations. Annapolis Lowland, all but the highest Cape Breton elevations of the Nova Scotia Highlands, and a small Dunes and sand beaches are particularly well part of the lower elevations of the Notre Dame developed on Prince Edward Island, the Mountains in Quebec. Northumberland coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and on Sable Island. Dune species include Higher elevations are most notable in northern New American beachgrass, sea lymegrass ( Leymus mollis ), Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula, as well as on seabeach sedge ( Carex silicea ), beach pea ( Lathyrus Cape Breton Island. Most highland landforms are japonicus ), woolly beach-heather ( Hudsonia characterized by erosion resistant rocks, derived tomentosa ) and northern bayberry ( Morella from early Paleozoic mountain forming events. In pensylvanica ). Common sand beach species include northern New Brunswick and Quebec, the geology American sea rocket ( Cakile edentula ), seabeach includes igneous and older sedimentary formations, sandwort ( Honckenya peploides ) and rough while the highlands of Cape Breton are mostly cockleburr (Xanthium strumarium ); oysterleaf metamorphic and plutonic. Lowlands are associated (Mertensia maritima ), saltbushes (Atriplex spp .) and with river valleys eroded into upland bedrock or Scotch lovage ( Ligusticum scoticum ) are more extensive areas of gentle relief underlain by softer common on gravel and cobble beaches. Paleozoic or Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. A general

topographic gradient, marked by a series of parallel Climate peneplains, tilts toward the Atlantic Ocean with

elevations ranging from just over 800 mASL in The Acadian Temperate Forest zone occupies the northern New Brunswick to sea level. Much of the easternmost extent of the humid continental, cool zone is below 200 mASL and, while relief is generally temperate macroclimate of Canada. The zone is not pronounced, topographic changes can be surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on three sides, abrupt. The terrain varies from gently rolling plains creating a broad oceanic gradient from more with little relief to rugged, often deeply dissected, continental areas in Quebec and northern New plateaux with steep slopes. Brunswick to the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, where the climate is hypermaritime. Increasing The entire zone was affected by late Pleistocene proximity to the ocean results in significant effects glaciation, and surficial landscape expression is on insolation, fog, precipitation, seasonal dominated by glacial features and bedrock- temperatures, frost-free days and atmospheric controlled terrain. The predominant parent material humidity. In general terms, winters are cool and is glacial till, often occurring as shallow veneers summers are warm. overlying bedrock on upland sites while deeper deposits fill landscape depressions. Glaciofluvial, Mean annual temperatures vary from approximately fluvial, marine and aeolian deposits occur in river 3.5°C in northern New Brunswick to 7°C in the valleys and coastal areas. Mineral soils are typically Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Growing degree days Podzols and Luvisols, with Gleysols occurring on above 5°C vary between approximately 1300 and moist, poorly drained sites. Folisols develop in very 1800. Mean annual precipitation varies from 1000 humid areas along the Atlantic Coast and on the

Cape Breton Highlands. Deeper peat deposits including the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of containing Organic soils occur in bedrock basins and Fundy. To the northwest, it adjoins the Eastern depressions where water tables remain near the Temperate Mixed Forest. At higher elevations in surface throughout the year. Numerous lakes are a Quebec and Cape Breton Island, it borders the characteristic of the landscape in all provinces, but Eastern Boreal Forest . To the south and west, it large rivers are only prominent in New Brunswick. continues into the . Notes

At low elevations, the Acadian Temperate Forest zone is mostly bounded by the Atlantic Ocean,