Classification

• Province: Laurentian Mixed Forest
  • Section: Northern Superior Uplands
    • Subsection: Border Lakes
• System: Fire Dependent Woodland

Description:

• The Alder/Willow Wetland, about 2.5% of the BWCAW by surface area
• Slow moving subsurface water with dense, nearly impenetrable cover of tall shrubs
• Signature Species
• Speckled Alder, Alnus incana
• Willows, Salix spp.

Indicator
Species:

Trees

• Red Pine, Pinus resinosa
• White Pine, Pinus strobus
• Jack Pine, Pinus banksiana
• Paper Birch, Betula papyrifera
• Red Oak, Quercus borealis
• Red Maple, Acer rubrum
• Balsam Fir, Abies balsamea
• Black Spruce, Picea mariana
• White Cedar, Thuja occidentalis

Shrubs

• Green Alder, Alnus crispa
• Juneberries, Amelanchier spp.
• Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
• Pipsissewa, Chimaphila umbellata
• Sweet Fern, Comptonia peregrina
• Bunchberry, Cornus canadensis
• Beaked Hazel, Corylus cornuta
• Low Bush Honeysuckle, Diervilla lonicera
• Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
• Common Juniper, Juniperus communis
• Twinflower, Linnaea borealis
• Willows, Salix spp.
• Late Low Blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium

Herbs

• Wild Sarsaparilla, Aralia nudicaulis
• Large Leaf Aster, Aster macrophyllus
• Blue Bead Lily, Clintonia borealis
• Mocasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule
• Greater Rattlesnake Orchid, Goodyera tesselata
• Canada Mayflower, Maianthemum canadense
• Cow Wheat, Melampyrum linare
• Bracken Fern, Pteridium aquilinum
• Rose Twisted Stalk, Streptopus roseus
• Starflower, Trientalis borealis
• Grasses and Sedges

Ground Cover

• Dicranum Mosses, Dicranum spp
• Clubmosses, Lycopodium spp
• Schreber's Feathermoss, Pleurozium schreberi
• Hair Cap Moss, Polystrichum commune

Landform & Topography:

Soils & Hydrology:

Identification:

• Signature Species
• Red Pine, Pinus resinosa

• Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
• Yellow Rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata
• Black Throated Green Warbler, Dendroica virens
• Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica fusca
• Pine Warbler, Dendroica pinus
• Black and White Warbler, Mniotilta varia
• White Throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
• Dark Eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis
• Red Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra
• White Winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera
• Evening Grosbeak, Hesperiphona vespertina
• Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus
• Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator

Natural
History

• History

Other
Communities:

Last updated on 30 June, 2004