ECOREGION Forest Barren Tundra Bog Forteau Barrens NF L10 1 h i s s m a l l are frequently strewn with loose rock, and the Tecoregion hills themselves are dissected by streams. Soils 2 takes in the are thinnest on slopes and hilltops, and deeper s o u t h e a s t on valley floors. c o r n e r o f The landscape is characterized by 3 Labrador, where it faces the Great pockets of scrubby black spruce, barrens, and Northern Peninsula across the Strait of poorly drained peatlands composed primarily Belle Isle. Due to its proximity to the of slope bogs of varying sizes. Most trees 4 ocean, it experiences a more maritime form tuckamore due to the strong climate than the rest of Labrador — winds and wet soils, although black relatively mild winters and cool, spruce and larch will grow to 5 rainy summers. Coastal waters normal tree heights on well- generally freeze in mid- drained sites. It is likely that fire 6 January and break-up has played a role in the occurs in mid-April. formation of the upland barren vegetation, which covers The topography of Forteau Barrens 7 much of this area. t h e F o r t e a u B a r r e n s Ecoregion ecoregion consists mainly of low, flat-topped hills that rise 8 from sea level to about 500 metres. The crests of hilltops 9 Soil Profile: Like most of Labrador, the formation of soil in this ecoregion is limited by two factors: cold weather, which keeps the land frozen for much of the year, and glaciation, which scoured the LAB land as recently as 10,000 years ago. Soils are or mostly ortho humo-ferric podzols and stony 1 fibrisols, with rocky outcrops throughout. 2 Ecoregion: An area that has exposed conditions and soils areas where growth-limiting distinctive and repeating low in nutrients. Barrens are factors (such as exposure to 3 patterns of vegetation and soil also known as "heath" or harsh weather, or excess soil development, which are "heathlands," since much of moisture) have resulted in determined and controlled by the plant life found on them dense thickets of stunted 4 regional climate. Ecoregions belongs to the heath family. coniferous trees. can be distinguished from each other by their plant Slope bogs: One of several Ericaceous: A scientific term 5 communities, landscapes, types of bogs that occur referring to a family of low geology, and other features. throughout Newfoundland and shrubs that grow in acidic soils These characteristics, in turn, Labrador. They are generally and have leathery leaves and 6 influence the kinds of wildlife found on slopes in poorly bell-shaped flowers. Some of that can find suitable habitat drained areas and can the many Labrador plants that 7 within each ecoregion. s o m e t i m e s c o n t a i n a belong to this group — which is scattering of pools. also known as the "heath Barrens: Primarily treeless family" — are blueberry, 8 areas containing low-growing Tuckamore: Also known as partridgeberry, crowberry, and "krummholz," tuckamore are plants that are well adapted to sheep laurel. 9 Check your public library for a full set (36) of these booklets: one introductory document and one for each of the 35 ecoregions and subregions in the province. For more information about the series see page 4. 10 Species in Focus: DB suggests Cassiope tetragona ( arctic white-heather) or Dryas integrifolia(mountain avens) - I e- mailed him weeks and weeks ago about photo for either of these - nothing. This is what I'd had: Pink crowberry (Empetrum eamesii) is one of three species of crowberry that grow in exposed areas of Newfoundland and Labrador (the other two are black and purple crowberry). Crowberries are low-growing, compact, mat-like evergreen plants. Of the three species, pink crowberry is the most common in dry, exposed places such as rock ledges, hilltops, and dry barrens. In the Low Arctic Tundra where vegetation cover is sparse, pink crowberry is one of only a handful of plants that manages to survive, forming thick cushions that alternate with patches of bare soil. Black crowberry (E. nigrum) is the most common of the crowberries. It occurs in a variety of habitats throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, including coastal areas, bogs, wooded areas, and barren, rocky soils. Purple crowberry (E. atropurpureum) -- also found in exposed places -- is the least common and forms growth that is more loose and trailing than the other two crowberries. Landscape profile - Forteau Barrens 500 m tuckamore slope bog G e o l o g y : fir spruce alpine heath Rocks of this ecoregion belong to the Grenville Province, which represents the most recent period of mountain building ocean to affect Labrador. Most of the ecoregion Sea Level is underlain by granites and is part of a broad expanse of such rocks that extends far to the west into the interior of Labrador and adjacent parts of Quebec. These rocks were formed some 1.0 billion years ago. The granitic rocks are overlain near the coast by much younger conglomerates, sandstones, and limestones, dating from about 600 million years ago. These rocks formed near the western shore of an ocean that pre-dates the present Atlantic, an ocean in which many of the rocks on the island of Newfoundland formed. The limestones contain fossils of ancient organisms, the first signs of life in what is now Labrador. those river valleys where soils are ericaceous shrubs. In some Vegetation deeper and better drained, black places, where snow cover is Profile spruce and larch often grow to only shallow and discontinuous, a thick ten or twelve metres in height. lichen cover with some pink he landscape of the Forteau In some areas, however, crowberry and alpine bilberry T B a r r e n s e c o r e g i o n i s where historically there were occurs. Along the coast, black characterized by extensive forests, such as on sheltered spruce is replaced by white barrens. Its coastal location has slopes, fire and local cutting have spruce, which is more resistant to resulted in wet soils and strong removed the tree seed stock and harsh climatic conditions, such as winds, which, in turn, have resulted produced open barrens wind and salt spray off the ocean. in limited tree growth. Soils are Barrens are common on In the most exposed, rocky thin, both on slopes and on hilltops. e x p o s e d h i l l t o p s , c o a s t a l areas, vegetation is minimal, In most lowlands drainage is poor headlands, and upland areas. consisting only of a scattering of and black spruce is small and Here a scattering of stunted black lichen. Bogs are characterized by scrubby, forming tuckamore less spruce grow in association with wetland plants such as cotton than five metres in height. Even in b a l s a m f i r, w i l l o w s , a n d grass and sphagnum mosses. Species in Focus: White spruce (Picea glauca) occurs throughout the province individually or in small groups, rarely in n o i pure stands. Usually taller than black spruce, which it closely s i v i resembles, white spruce also has a more northern distribution. D s Because it is resistant to harsh conditions, it often grows in coastal a e r areas. It also frequently occurs as a "pioneer species" in A l abandoned fields and other disturbed sites. Pioneer species are a r u t those that are the first to colonize locations with newly exposed soil a N surfaces due to disturbances such as fire and cutting. Such d n a species are usually "light-demanding," which means they require a s k lot of light for seed germination and seedling growth. r a P : o t o h P 2 Forteau Barrens ecoregion Species in Wildlife Profile Focus: The ivory gull is a ammals occurring in the small white Mforest/shrub habitats of the g u l l w i t h Forteau Barrens ecoregion include black legs. It moose, woodchuck, red squirrel, feeds on a red-backed vole, star-nosed mole, wide range of r little brown bat, lynx, American items, from a g e marten (known locally as pine f i s h a n d n i L marten), flying squirrel, heather invertebrates l u t o t h e a P vole, woodland jumping mouse, : c a r c a s s e s o porcupine, mink, snowshoe hare, t and feces of o h rock vole, and masked shrew. p a c k - i c e P Northern bog lemming and arctic mammals. Ivory gulls breed throughout the arctic regions of the world, fox are found in the barrens. generally where there is permanent pack-ice. Nesting sites occur on small Meadow jumping mouse reef-like islands, flat coastal areas, or narrow cliff ledges. At the end of and meadow vole occur in wetland summer, ivory gulls disperse southward. They occur commonly along the areas, while in aquatic habitats, coast of Labrador in winter, with a handful reaching the island of beaver, water shrew, muskrat, and Newfoundland. river otter are found. The ivory gull is an endangered species. In the past, the remote, Mammals that inhabit a inhospitable location of colonies protected them from disturbance, variety of habitats within the however they were considered a delicacy and were still hunted in the winter.