COASTAL LODGEPOLE FOREST (46)

Geographic Distribution. Most commonly found along the south-central coastline near Florence, this type can be found throughout the length of the Oregon coast. It is uncommon to find this type more than a mile or so off the coastline. It is and primarily located in deflation plain settings.

Structure and Appearance. Low stature, single story conifer stands, with moderate to closed canopies. Overstory is predominantly lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) on newly colonized dunes and deflation plains. As the habitat matures, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) increases in abundance, becoming the successional forest. Sitka spruce will also co-dominate with lodgepole on wet places in the deflation plain. South of Coos Bay, Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) can be found in this forest type in the wet deflation and dune places.

Understory vegetation is often a dense, impenetrable shrub layer in stable, late successional stands. Early succession stands, and places with active sand movement, have sparse understories.

Composition. Conifer overstories of lodgepole pine and locally abundant Sitka spruce. Shrub layer is dominated by salal (Gaultheria shallon), pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), and evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum). Forb layer is sparse to non-existent under the heavy shrub covers

Landscape Setting. Lodgepole pine is the early colonizer of dunes and deflation plains. This cover type can exist as a narrow strip bordering on the Sitka spruce-western hemlock type along the northern coast; or it can become fairly extensive on the dune sheets between Florence and Coos Bay.

References. Wiedemann et al. 1974, Ripley 1983.