North American inland temperate rainforest

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North American Inland Temperate Rainforest
Western redcedar grove, Moose Creek, Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness, Idaho, USA.jpg
Inland temperate rainforest of Moose Creek in Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho
Ecology
Realm Nearctic
Biome Temperate coniferous forests
Geography
Area70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi)
Countries
States

The North American inland temperate rainforest is a 7 million hectare disjunct temperate rainforest spreading over parts of British Columbia in Canada as well as Washington, Idaho and Montana on the US side. [1] Its patches are located on the windward slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia Mountains, extending roughly over 1000km from 54° North to 45° North. [2] It is one of the largest inland temperate rainforests in the world. [3]

Contents

General description

Setting and extension

The North American inland rainforest is located in the so-called interior wet-belt, approximately 500-700 km inland from the Pacific coast on western, windward mountain slopes and valley bottoms of the Columbia Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The interior wet-belt refers to a discontinuous band of humid forest patches, that are scattered over 1000 km between Purden Lake in Canada’s British Columbia (54° north) and Montana and Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains and Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains (45° north). [4] It is closely associated with the North Central Rockies forests ecoregion designated by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends over a similar range but incorporates various non-temperate rainforest ecosystems.

Recognition as a rainforest

Coal Creek, Coeur d'Alene National Forest, Idaho Stream running into Coal Creek, Coeur d' Alene National Forest, Idaho (27533929446).jpg
Coal Creek, Coeur d'Alene National Forest, Idaho

The North American inland temperate rainforest region is one of seven definitive temperate rainforest regions according to the Rainforest Distribution Model by Dominick DellaSala, next to

It has been started to be recognized as an “inland counterpart” of the coastal Pacific temperate rainforest extending from Washington state up to south-central Alaska. This is mainly, because the Inland rainforests share a great number of oceanic lichen species – which is remarkable, considering its distance from the coastline. [6]

Climate

Temperature

The general temperature pattern in the Inland rainforests in relation to its Pacific Northwestern counterpart can be summarized as: colder winters and warmer summers. [7] In northern Idaho rainforest patches along the Clearwater River, a mean annual temperature of 5.4°C has been measured. [8] In British Columbian Inland rainforest areas, the mean annual temperature ranges from 2.7 to 4.5°C. In the coldest months, the mean temperature of these region lies between -8 and -9.5°C. [9]

Precipitation patterns

In general, the inland rainforest patches are restricted to areas with extraordinarily humid climate. [10] For most of the year, pacific storm systems and maritime air masses moved into the interior by the prevailing westerlies create a zone of high precipitation when intersecting with the longitudinally oriented mountain ranges of that area (see Rocky Mountains, Columbia Mountains). [11] [12] This pattern changes in the southern regions during the summer months, when winds from Canada and the Great Plains dominate. This results in a substantially lower average rainfall in July and August in the southern rainforest patches than in the rest of the year, leading to a generally drier summer than in the North where the summers are cool and wet. [13] In general, mean annual precipitation ranges between 700 and 1,500mm. [14] For British Columbian rainforest patches, the mean annual precipitation varies between 788mm and 1,240mm. Because of low winter temperatures, winter precipitation generally falls as snow. [15] Snowpack melting and a relatively high precipitation in early summer offset any potential drying effect caused by the colder winters and warmer summers. [16]

Flora

The Incomappleux River Valley of British Columbia hosts a rich collection of old-growth temperate rainforest Deep Interior Rainforest (4496180400).jpg
The Incomappleux River Valley of British Columbia hosts a rich collection of old-growth temperate rainforest

The inland rainforest patches are habitat for a variety of tree species. Probably the first species to colonize the northern regions after the last deglaciation was the lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta ). The oldest stands however are usually dominated by western red cedar ( Thuja plicata ), which are also the oldest individuals in these forests. [17] Western red cedar and Western hemlock ( Tsuga heterophylla ) are the most common tree species in low elevation inland rainforest patches, while the high elevation rainforest regions of British Columbia are dominated by Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmannii ) and subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa ). [18] In northern Idaho rainforest patches, grand fir ( Abies grandis ) and red alder ( Alnus rubra ) seem to play an important role. [19]

In Canada, the domination of red cedar and hemlock has led to the classification of the inland rainforest areas as belonging to the Interior Cedar-Hemlock Biogeoclimatic zone (ICH). In the United States, the inland rainforest regions are also classified as significant habitat types for western redcedar and western hemlock. [20]

Because of their humid climate, the inland rainforest patches support the establishment of oceanic species that would typically be expected to grow in maritime and coastal environments. Examples for vascular oceanic species include deer fern ( Blechnum spicant ) and red huckleberry ( Vaccinium parviflorum ). A large number of epiphytes occur, such as hanging moss ( Antitrichia curtipendula ) settling on trees and various oceanic lichen genera (such as Chaenotheca , Chaenothecopsis , Collema , Fuscopannaria , Lichinodium , Lobaria , Nephroma , Parmeliella , Polychidium , Pseudocyphellaria , Sphaerophorus , and Sticta ). [21] Roughly 40% of the lichen found in the Pacific northwestern rainforest are also found in the inland rainforest. [22] Because of their unique occurrence only in the specific climatic conditions provided by the inland rainforests, oceanic lichen has been used as an indicator for the location of these forest patches. [23]

Fauna

Mountain-type Woodland Caribou Mountain-type Woodland Caribou.jpg
Mountain-type Woodland Caribou

The inland rainforest regions provide habitat for a large number of carnivores, including black bears ( Ursus americanus ), grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos ), grey wolf ( Canis lupus ), cougar ( Puma concolor ), lynx ( Lynx lynx ) and wolverine ( Gulo gulo ). [24]

The most characteristic animal for these forests is the mountain caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ), also referred to as woodland caribou, which is currently listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [25] The reasons for this endangerment are complex: Mountain caribous relies heavily on oceanic hair lichen as main food source during the winter, when ground vegetation is out of reach due to the immense accumulation of snow (2-5m) in the mountainous regions. Because of an increase in logging, the old-growth habitat for these lichen species are diminishing. Another problem is the increasing temperatures: due to a shift towards warmer climate conditions, the inland rainforest patches became successional habitat for moose ( Alces alces ), deer ( Odocoileus ) and elk ( Cervus elaphus ), which led to an increase in predatory species. While the mountain caribou is safe during the winter season due to the altitude that it dwells on, it is highly vulnerable in the summer months, when moose and deer move to higher elevations and attract predators that also prey on the caribous. [26]

Conservation and environmental issues

The Cedar Grove Conservation Area, The first property acquired though a county Conservation Futures program Liberty Lake Loop Redcedar Grove Sign.jpg
The Cedar Grove Conservation Area, The first property acquired though a county Conservation Futures program

Conservation

In British Columbian inland rainforests, there are 17.1% of forests, 5% of old forests and 4.5% of old, intact forests strictly protected. That means that the vast majority of the Canadian Inland rainforests are open to large-scale human impacts like clear-cut logging and other anthropogenic disturbances. [28] Conservation projects in the United States are as of now not specifically tilted towards the protection of Inland rainforest patches. However, there are efforts to catalogue these areas by using conservation-area design (CAD) techniques. [29]

Environmental issues

Currently, there are three major threats to the Inland rainforests: 1. logging, 2. mining and hydroelectric development projects and 3. climate change.

Logging

The Inland rainforest patches are highly at risk of being clear-cut. There is an extensive history of forestry in the region, however the rate of exploitation seems to be increasing. Forest ecologist Dominick DellaSala has compared the speed at which the Inland rainforest in British Columbia gets logged to logging in the tropical rainforest of Brazil. [30]

Hydroelectric development

Particularly in British Columbia, large hydroelectric projects enormously threaten the functionality of the Inland rainforests and other riparian ecosystems. These projects are often highly controversial, and in the past have been permitted without adequate consideration for sensitive ecosystems and local communities. [31]

Climate change

Climate change is likely to impact especially the amount of snow in winter and spring and the general annual temperature, which is believed to increase. Summer droughts and fires would be more probable, as well as a higher number of beetle outbreaks due to warmer winters that would allow more beetles to survive. Plant and animal species alike would be affected, for example, a drier climate would favor more drought-adapted species over the moisture-dependent plants in the Inland rainforest patches. [32]

Disturbance dynamics

Charred trees in the Settlers Grove of Ancient Cedars, Idaho Trail in Settlers Grove of Ancient Cedars, Idaho (35539949006).jpg
Charred trees in the Settlers Grove of Ancient Cedars, Idaho

The main large-scale disturbances in the northern Inland rainforest patches in British Columbia are infrequent periodic fires and insect outbreaks of the western hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa). On a small scale, these forests are characterized by gap dynamics as results of senescence, heart rot and root rots. Avalanches, wind and snow loading can have varying effects from small-scale events like tree snapping to disturbances that affect large areas. [33]

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

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The inland rainforest, also known as the inland temperate rainforest in the classification system of the WWF, is a temperate rainforest in the Central Interior of British Columbia. It is part of the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) zone of the biogeoclimatic zones system developed by the BC Ministry of Forests, in the Rocky Mountain Trench. One of the richest parts of this wet belt lies 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the city of Prince George and nearly a thousand kilometres east of the coastal rainforests. The oldest and most diverse parts of the forest are typically found on northeasterly aspect wet toe slopes, with Western Red Cedar trees over 1,000 years old and undisturbed forest stands much older than that. Some of these toe-slope benches were cleared in the 1960s to develop the Yellowhead Highway, with the added result that most of the remainder became easily accessible to industrial logging and recreation, and more recently to research and interpretation. As a consequence there are only a handful of the best sites left undisturbed in 2008.

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The North Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States. This region overlaps in large part with the North American inland temperate rainforest and gets more rain on average than the South Central Rockies forests and is notable for containing the only inland populations of many species from the Pacific coast.

Balkan temperate rainforests are a small portion of the southeastern Alps and Balkan region contain relatively low elevation temperate rainforest flora and fauna. Annual rainfall is in excess of 1600 mm, supporting a variety of lichens, tree species, and animal species. These forests, comprising approximately 580,000 hectares, contain a variety of remnant plant and animal species associated with rainforest ecosystems and not found throughout the larger Dinaric Mountains mixed forests ecoregion.

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Absconditella amabilis is a species of lichen in the family Stictidaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Bacidina contecta is a species of lichen in the family Ramalinaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Biatora aureolepra is a species of lichen in the family Ramalinaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Collema coniophilum is a species of lichen in the family Collemataceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Pertusaria diluta is a species of crustose lichen in the family Pertusariaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Schaereria brunnea is a species of lichen in the family Schaereriaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Scoliciosporum abietinum is a species of crustose lichen in the family Scoliciosporaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia.

Boreal woodland caribou(Rangifer tarandus caribou) are a species of caribou and subspecies of North American reindeer. Boreal woodland caribou are also known as southern mountain caribou, woodland caribou, and forest-dwelling caribou. Mountain caribou are uniquely adapted to live in old-growth forests. The mountain caribou diet consists of tree-dwelling lichens predominantly. They are unique in this aspect as in the far northern regions of their habitat zones, the snowpack is shallow enough that the boreal woodland caribou can paw through the snow to eat the ground-dwelling lichens. In the inland Pacific Northwest Rainforests of eastern British Columbia, where the snowpack can reach upwards of five meters, the mountain caribou rely predominantly on the tree-dwelling lichens such as Bryoria spp. and Alectoria spp., hanging above the snowpack. As a result, these mountain caribou are reliant upon the old growth forests, which have been logged for centuries and continue to dwindle.

Trevor Goward is a Canadian environmentalist and lichenologist known for his contributions to lichenology and his environmental conservation, particularly in British Columbia. Goward has authored numerous publications on lichens, including taxonomic guides, and has conducted observational studies that challenge established scientific understandings of lichen symbiosis. Despite lacking formal training in biology, he has served as the curator of the University of British Columbia's lichen herbarium since 1989 and has had several lichen species named in his honour.

References

  1. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 82.
  2. ↑ Goward, Trevor; Spribille, Toby (2005). "Lichenological evidence for the recognition of inland rain forests in western North America". Journal of Biogeography. 32 (7): 1210.
  3. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 82.
  4. ↑ Goward, Trevor; Spribille, Toby (2005). "Lichenological evidence for the recognition of inland rain forests in western North America". Journal of Biogeography. 32 (7): 1209-2010.
  5. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 14.
  6. ↑ Goward, Trevor; Spribille, Toby (2005). "Lichenological evidence for the recognition of inland rain forests in western North America". Journal of Biogeography. 32 (7): 1210.
  7. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 87.
  8. ↑ Alaback, Paul; Krebs, Michael; Rosen, Paul (2000). “Ecological Characteristics and Natural Disturbances in Interior Rainforests of Northern Idaho.”, in: Robert G. D’Eon et alter (Ed.): Ecosystem Management of Forested Landscapes. Directions and Implementation: pp.29 and 31.
  9. ↑ Drinkwater, Bob; Stevenson, Susan K. (2011). British Columbia's Inland Rainforest. Ecology, Conservation, and Management. p. 20.
  10. ↑ Arsenault, André; Goward, Trevor (2000). “Ecological characteristics of inland rainforests. Ecoforestry. 15 (4): 20.
  11. ↑ Benson, Shelly; Coxson, Darwyn S. (2002). “Lichen Colonization and Gap Structure in Wet-temperate Rainforests of Northern Interior British Columbia”. The Bryologist. 105 (4): p. 673.
  12. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 86.
  13. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 86-87.
  14. ↑ Alaback, Paul; Krebs, Michael; Rosen, Paul (2000). “Ecological Characteristics and Natural Disturbances in Interior Rainforests of Northern Idaho.”, in: Robert G. D’Eon et alter (Ed.): Ecosystem Management of Forested Landscapes. Directions and Implementation: p.30.
  15. ↑ Drinkwater, Bob; Stevenson, Susan K. (2011). British Columbia's Inland Rainforest. Ecology, Conservation, and Management. p. 20.
  16. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 87.
  17. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 83-84.
  18. ↑ Stevenson, Susan K.; Jull, Michael J.; Rogers, Bruce J. (2006). “Abundance and attributes of wildlife trees and coarse woody debris at three silvicultural systems study areas in the Interior Cedar-Hemlock Zone, British Columbia”. Forest Ecology Management 233 (2006): p. 176.
  19. ↑ Alaback, Paul; Krebs, Michael; Rosen, Paul (2000). “Ecological Characteristics and Natural Disturbances in Interior Rainforests of Northern Idaho.”, in: Robert G. D’Eon et alter (Ed.): Ecosystem Management of Forested Landscapes. Directions and Implementation: p.32.
  20. ↑ Alaback, Paul; Krebs, Michael; Rosen, Paul (2000). “Ecological Characteristics and Natural Disturbances in Interior Rainforests of Northern Idaho.”, in: Robert G. D’Eon et alter (Ed.): Ecosystem Management of Forested Landscapes. Directions and Implementation: p.32.
  21. ↑ Arsenault, André; Goward, Trevor (2000). “Ecological characteristics of inland rainforests. Ecoforestry. 15 (4): 21.
  22. ↑ Radies, David; Coxson, Darwyn; Johnson, Chris; Konwicki, Ksenia (2009). “Predicting canopy macrolichen diversity and abundance within old-growth inland temperate rainforests”. Forest Ecology and Management (2009): p. 86.
  23. ↑ Goward, Trevor; Spribille, Toby (2005). "Lichenological evidence for the recognition of inland rain forests in western North America". Journal of Biogeography. 32 (7): 1210.
  24. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 83-84.
  25. ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?sId=4618, accessed 11/06/2019.
  26. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. pp. 90-91.
  27. ↑ "Conservation Futures Acquisition History". Spokane County. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  28. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. pp. 97-98.
  29. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. pp. 99-100.
  30. ↑ Cox, Sarah (2019). “Canada’s forgotten rainforest.” https://thenarwhal.ca/canadas-forgotten-rainforest/, accessed 11/06/2019.
  31. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation, p.103.
  32. ↑ DellaSala, Dominick (2011). Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation, pp. 104-105.
  33. ↑ Drinkwater, Bob; Stevenson, Susan K. (2011). British Columbia's Inland Rainforest. Ecology, Conservation, and Management. p. 53-54.
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