1 ECOLOGICAL SITES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES FOR THE ALPINE SUBREGION First approximation 2021 Prepared by: M.G. Willoughby and A.J. Gould Alberta Government Edmonton i ISBN No.: 978-1-4601-5057-3 (Online Edition) For information on this report contact: Michael G. Willoughby 9920 108 Street, 4th Floor Edmonton, AB (780) 422-4598 E-mail: [email protected] This publication is the property of the Government of Alberta and is available under the Alberta Open Government Licence (http://open.alberta.ca/licence) and the publication is available online at: https://open.alberta.ca/publications/ecological-sites-plant-communities-alpine-subregion-first-approximation © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, 2021 ii Table of Contents ECOLOGICAL SITES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES FOR THE ALPINE SUBREGION ...................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................iii Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................................................................................vii Introduction and Background ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Physiography, Climate and Soils .................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Approach and Methods of Classification ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Correlation of Soils and Ecological Sites ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Guidelines for Determining Ecological Sites ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 How to use the Guide..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Results ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 General Ecological Descriptions................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Plant Community Keys ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Plant Community Tables .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 A Alpine (n=972) .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 a stone fields (xeric-subxeric/upper zone) (n=120) .............................................................................................................................................. 21 a1 stone fields (n=118) .................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Aa19 Shrubby cinquefoil/Early yellow locoweed/June grass (windswept ridges) (n=16) ............................................................................... 23 Aa2 Wood rush-Spiked trisetum/Lichen (n=21) ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Aa20 Sticky Jacob's-ladder-Saxifrage-Silver rock-cress (n=6) ..................................................................................................................... 25 Aa3 Moss campion/Saxicolous lichen (n=55) ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Ab19 Arctic willow/Moss campion/Saxicolous lichen (n=16) ......................................................................................................................... 27 Ab20 Michaux's wormwood (n=4) ................................................................................................................................................................ 28 a2 stone seepages (n=2)................................................................................................................................................................................. 29 Aa11 Hornemann's willowherb/Ross's sedge (n=1) ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Aa15 False saxifrage (n=1) .......................................................................................................................................................................... 31 b mountain avens (xeric-mesic/upper zone) (n=280)........................................................................................................................................... 32 b1 mountain avens La (n=0) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33 b2 mountain avens Fa-Se (n=21) .................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Ac1 White mountain avens (Fa-Se) (n=21) .................................................................................................................................................. 35 b3 mountain avens shrubland (n=238) ............................................................................................................................................................ 36 Ab1 White mountain avens (n=169) ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 Ab2 Entire-leaved mountain avens (n=25) ................................................................................................................................................... 39 Ab22 Net-veined willow-Arctic willow-Entire-leaved mountain avens (n=5) .................................................................................................. 40 Ab4 Net-veined willow-Arctic willow-White mountain avens (n=39) .............................................................................................................. 41 b4 mountain avens/graminoid (n=21) .............................................................................................................................................................. 42 Aa1 Bearberry/Hairy wildrye (n=12) ............................................................................................................................................................. 43 Aa4 Nard sedge/White mountain avens (n=9) .............................................................................................................................................. 44 c bog sedge (subxeric-mesic/upper zone) (n=33) ............................................................................................................................................... 45 c1 bog sedge La (n=0) .................................................................................................................................................................................... 46 c2 bog sedge Fa-Se (n=0) ............................................................................................................................................................................... 47 c3 bog sedge shrubland (n=2) ......................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Ab5 Net-veined willow-Smooth willow/Bog sedge (n=2) ............................................................................................................................... 49 c4 bog sedge graminoid (n=31) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Aa5 Bog