BC ecosystem classification Flashcards
what are coniferous trees
Douglas fir, western red cedar, hemlock, lodge pole pine, spruce, ponderosa pine, subalpine fir
what are broadleaved trees
Trembling Aspen, paper birch, cotton wood, red alder, big leaf maple
Characteristics of Douglas fir
- Coastal and interior
- Needles are flat with a pointed tip
- Needles appear to stand out around the twig
- Cones are between each scale and long three-pronged bracts are easily seen
- Bark is deeply grooved
characteristics of western red cedar
- Leaves are overlapping like shingles and arranged on the twig in flat,
fan like sprays very strong aroma - Seed cones are egg shaped, 1cm long, several pairs of scales
- The bark is grey stringy, tearing off, in long strips on mature trees
characteristics of Hemlock
- Western and mountain
- Narrow crown of the tree, drooping new growth with down sweeping branches
- Needles are nearly flat, glossy, and soft
- Cones are small and numerous
characteristics of lodgepole pine
- Tall slender straight tree
- Needles occur in bunches of two and are often twisted in a spiral with sharp points
- Cones vary in shape from short and cylindrical shape to egg shaped
- Scales have sharp prickles at their tips
characteristics of Ponderosa pine/ yellow pine
- Needles occur in bunches of three
- 12-28cm long needles that are slender
- Sharp points and sharply toothed edges
- Bark is very thick (up to 10cm) and bright orangey brown
characteristics of white spruce
- Needles are four sided, sharp and stiff
- Needles are in spirals on the twigs
- The seed scales have a smooth rounded outer edge
- The bark is loose, scaly and greyish brown
characteristics of trembling aspen
- Leaves are smooth, round to triangular shaped
- Leaves have flattened stalk that longer than the leaf
- Bark is smooth and green and doesn’t peel
characteristics of paper birch
- Peels in papery strips
- Has a young bark that is a red colour
- The leaves are triangular shaped or egg shaped
- Leaves are about 8cm long
- Leaves are doubly toothed
characteristics of cottonwood
- Leaves are shiny
- vary in shape from oval to wedge
- leaves have a pointy tip
- the bark is smooth
- on young trees bark is yellow grey
- bark growth thick and deeply grooved with age
what is an ecosystem
a landscape segment uniform in 5 basic components: climate, soil, animals, vegetation, microorganisms
what is the ecosystem concept
emphasizes interrelationship among these components and the high diversity of forests ecosystems in B.C
what is site quality
climate, soil moisture, and nutrients
Plants are sued as indicators of site quality
What is ecological equivalence
implies that sites that have different topographic and soil properties may have equivalent climatic, soil moisture and soil nutrient regimes and hence the same vegetation potential due to compensating effects of environmental factors on plants
