Central Pacific coastal forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Nearctic |
Biome | Temperate coniferous forests |
Borders | |
Bird species | 218 [1] |
Mammal species | 74 [1] |
Geography | |
Area | 73,815 km2 (28,500 sq mi) |
Countries | |
State/Province | |
Climate type | Oceanic (Cfb) and warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb) |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Critical/Endangered [2] |
Global 200 | Yes |
Habitat loss | 0.4% [1] |
Protected | 28.7% [1] |
The Central Pacific coastal forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Central Pacific coastal forests stretch from the Chetco River in southwestern Oregon to the northern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It differs from the Coast Range ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States in that it includes the entirety of Vancouver Island and excludes the coastal forests of Northern California.
Major urban centers located within this ecoregion include Coos Bay, Astoria, Aberdeen, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, and Campbell River.
North of the Chehalis River Valley of Washington state, the ecoregion features a predominantly oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) with cool winters, mild summers, and plentiful rainfall throughout the year. South of the Chehalis River Valley and along the east coast of Vancouver Island, the ecoregion has a predominantly Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) with fresh, dry, sunny summers and cool winters with moderate precipitation and plentiful cloud cover. Small patches of oceanic climate can be found in the Willapa Hills of Washington state and the northern highlands of the Oregon Coast Range. [2]
The forests of the Central Pacific Coast are among the most productive in the world, characterized by large trees draped lush growths of mosses and lichens, and an abundance of ferns, herbs, and woody debris on the forest floor. [2]
The major forest complex consists of Coast douglas fir and western hemlock, encompassing seral forests dominated by Douglas fir and old-growth forests of fir, hemlock, western red cedar, and other species. These forests occur from sea level up to elevations of 700-1000 m in the Coast Range and Olympic Mountains. This forest type occupies a wide range of environments with variable composition and structure and includes such other species as grand fir, Pacific silver fir,subalpine fir, Sitka spruce, Port Orford cedar, red alder, paper birch, Pacific yew, bigtooth maple, bigleaf maple, black cottonwood, western white pine and ponderosa pine.
Lower growing species of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials may include: Vine maple, Pacific dogwood, Cascara buckthorn, redosier dogwood, Saskatoon serviceberry, red flowering currant, Cascade barberry, Oregon grape, Lewis' mock orange, red elderberry, Western sword fern, Pacific bleeding heart, western columbine, Redwood sorrel, Deer fern, etc...
Epiphytic species may include different mosses and lichens and epiphytic ferns such as Licorice fern can dominate areas with lots of shade, and wood.
On Vancouver Island, low-elevation coastal forest cover includes stands of western hemlock, Douglas-fir and amabilis fir. Western hemlock, Douglas fir and grand fir characterize most forests of eastern Vancouver Island. [3] Drier sites support stands of western hemlock and western red cedar. The driest areas in eastern Vancouver Island consist of mixed stands of Douglas fir and western hemlock with occasional Garry oak, Pacific dogwood and arbutus. The subalpine forests are composed of mountain hemlock, subalpine fir, amabilis fir and engelmann spruce, with some yellow cedar and western hemlock in high elevation areas in eastern Vancouver Island. [2]
While hemlock and fir dominate much of the ecoregion, the cool, wet conditions along the coast create a narrow band of forests distinguished by Sitka spruce. With its high tolerance of salt spray, in areas near the ocean Sitka spruce may form nearly pure forests or co-dominate with lodgepole pine. The Sitka spruce zone–in which hemlocks also occur in large numbers–may be only a few kilometers in width and generally occurs below 150 m (490 ft). Where mountains abut the coast, however, Sitka spruce forests may extend up to 600 m (2,000 ft). [2]
Riparian forests of this ecoregion are quite distinct from the Douglas-fir/hemlock forests. Broadleaf species such as black cottonwood and red alder replace the otherwise ubiquitous conifers along the many rivers and streams of the Pacific Northwest. Occasional grasslands, sand dune and strand communities, rush meadows and marshes, and western red cedar and alder swamps break up the conifer forests. [2]
The Central Pacific Coastal Forests are among the richest temperate coniferous forests in North America for amphibians and birds. Characteristic wildlife include Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, black bear, coyote, beaver, raccoon, mink, grouse, and a variety of migratory seabirds and waterfowl. [2] [4]
The Environmental Protection Agency has defined sub-ecoregions in the United States portion of this ecoregion. [5]
Several relatively large blocks of more or less intact habitat remain, as do a number of smaller patches. Human activities have significantly altered nearly all habitats outside the parks.
Notable protected areas include:
Alnus rubra, the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America.
Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
The Pacific temperate rainforests of western North America is the largest temperate rain forest region on the planet as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The Pacific temperate rainforests lie along the western side of the Pacific Coast Ranges along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America from the Prince William Sound in Alaska through the British Columbia Coast to Northern California, and are part of the Nearctic realm, as also defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The Pacific temperate rain forests are characterized by a high amount of rainfall, in some areas more than 300 cm (10 ft) per year and moderate temperatures in both the summer and winter months.
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.
Drift Creek Wilderness is a 5,798-acre (2,346 ha) wilderness area in the Siuslaw National Forest on the Oregon Coast. It was created in 1984, along with two other small wilderness areas in the forest - Cummins Creek Wilderness and Rock Creek Wilderness. The elevation of Drift Creek ranges from 150 to 1,500 feet, and is characterized by long steep slopes with broken and uneven terrain. Drift Creek was named for the accumulations of driftwood on its banks.
The Cummins Creek Wilderness is a 9,300-acre (3,800 ha) wilderness area in the Siuslaw National Forest within the Oregon Coast. It is one of three wilderness areas created in the Siuslaw in 1984, along with Drift Creek and Rock Creek. It is "dedicated to preserve in a wilderness state, the last remaining virgin stands of Sitka spruce, western hemlock and Douglas-fir, in Oregon's coast lands." Cummins Creek and nearby Cummins Ridge are named for F.L. Cummins, an early homesteader.
The Rock Creek Wilderness is a wilderness area comprising 7,486 acres (3,029 ha) within the Siuslaw National Forest on the Oregon Coast. It was created in 1984, along with the Drift Creek Wilderness and Cummins Creek Wilderness. The Rock Creek Wilderness has "no developed trails or trailheads."
The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, contains peaks as high as 3,710 feet (1,131 m) for Rogers Peak. Forests in these mountains are considered to be some of the most productive timber land in the world. The Central Oregon Coast Range is directly south of this section with the Southern Oregon Coast Range beyond the central range.
The Central Oregon Coast Range is the middle section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, and located in the west-central portion of the state of Oregon, United States roughly between the Salmon River and the Umpqua River and the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Ocean. This approximately 90-mile (140 km) long mountain range contains mountains as high as 4,097 feet for Marys Peak. Portions of the range are inside the Siuslaw National Forest and three wilderness areas exist as well: Drift Creek Wilderness, Cummins Creek Wilderness and Rock Creek Wilderness.
The Siuslaw National Forest is a national forest in western Oregon in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes.
The Coast Range ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and California. It stretches along the Pacific Coast from the tip of the Olympic Peninsula in the north to the San Francisco Bay in the south, including Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington, the entire length of the Oregon Coast, and the Northern California Coast. Named for the Coast Range mountains, it encompasses the lower elevations of the Olympic Mountains, the Oregon Coast Range, the Californian North Coast Ranges, and surrounding lowlands.
The Willamette Valley ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. Slightly larger than the Willamette Valley for which it is named, the ecoregion contains fluvial terraces and floodplains of the Willamette River system, scattered hills, buttes, and adjacent foothills. It is distinguished from the neighboring Coast Range, Cascades, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions by lower precipitation, lower elevation, less relief, and a different mosaic of vegetation. Mean annual rainfall is 37 to 60 inches, and summers are generally dry. Historically, the region was covered by rolling prairies, oak savanna, coniferous forests, extensive wetlands, and deciduous riparian forests. Today, it contains the bulk of Oregon's population, industry, commerce, and agriculture. Productive soils and a temperate climate make it one of the most important agricultural areas in Oregon.
The Cascades ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Somewhat smaller than the Cascade mountain range for which it is named, the ecoregion extends north to Snoqualmie Pass, near Seattle, and south to Hayden Pass, near the Oregon-California border, including the peaks and western slopes of most of the High Cascades. A discontiguous section is located on Mount Shasta in California.
The Blue Mountains ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in the state of Oregon, with small areas over the state border in Idaho and southeastern Washington. It is also contiguous with the World Wildlife Fund's Blue Mountain forests ecoregion.
The Klamath Mountains ecoregion of Oregon and California lies inland and north of the Coast Range ecoregion, extending from the Umpqua River in the north to the Sacramento Valley in the south. It encompasses the highly dissected ridges, foothills, and valleys of the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains. It corresponds to the Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency and to the Klamath-Siskiyou forests ecoregion designated by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia are units of a classification system used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests for the Canadian province's fourteen different broad, climatic ecosystems. The classification system, termed Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification, exists independently of other ecoregion systems, one created by the World Wildlife Fund and the other in use by Environment Canada, which is based on one created by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and also in use by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The system of biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification was partly created for the purpose of managing forestry resources, but is also in use by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and other provincial agencies. A biogeoclimatic zone is defined as "a geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a result of a broadly homogenous macroclimate."
The Ecology of the North Cascades is heavily influenced by the high elevation and rain shadow effects of the mountain range. The North Cascades is a section of the Cascade Range from the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River in Washington, United States, to the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers in British Columbia, Canada, where the range is officially called the Cascade Mountains but is usually referred to as the Canadian Cascades. The North Cascades Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion in the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's classification system.
Ecotourism in the United States is commonly practiced in protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves. The principles and behaviors of ecotourism are slowly becoming more widespread in the United States; for example, hotels in some regions strive to be more sustainable.
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia.
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