Subalpine Parkland - Minor Natural Soil Disturbance

Description

White mountainheather (Cassiope mertensiana) - pink mountainheather (Phyllodoce empetriformis) heather communities are widespread in alpine and upper subalpine environments, and may extend into the lower subalpine but the habitat changes with elevation. At higher elevations in the alpine zone, the communities occupy relatively early-snowmelt sites and are slightly snow-avoiding. At lower elevations in the upper subalpine zone, the communities occupy sites where snow melts relatively late and they are moderately snow-avoiding. In the lower subalpine and in avalanche tracks extending into the forested zones, heather communities occur on benches and basins where snow melts late and growing conditions resemble those at higher elevations. Pink mountainheather - Cascade huckleberry (Vaccinium deliciosum) communities may also include dwarfed mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), prostrate Alaska cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis), and scattered black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), especially in transitions to krummholz or tree islands. On late snow melt, wetter, peaty substrates, partridgefoot (Luetkea pectinata) and showy sedge (Carex spectabilis) are common associates.

Submodel