homalothecium's Identifications

Rob's mini-bioblitz of RS38, HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Willamette NF, Oregon. West Cascades Ecoregion. 500 meters.

Bioblitz project page -- https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/rob-mini-bioblitz-reference-stand-38-hja

https://andrewsforest.oregonstate.edu/research/infrastructure/permanent-vegetation-plots
Plot Name: Reference Stand/Permanent Plot 38 (HJA Lookout Cr. Riparian)
Plot Size: 2.44 ha -- Established: 1990 Remeasurements: 1996 Slope: 0 to 60% -- Landform: Plot straddles main stem of Lookout Creek w/ most of the plot north of the channel. This portion is largely made up of floodplain and terraces. To the south of the channel the main landform is a steep toe-slope.
Soil Parent Material: recent alluvium and mixed colluvium.

General Stand Description: RS 38 was established to study riparian stands along the main stem of Lookout Creek (located just south of the Concrete Bridge in the H.J. Andrews Exp. For.). At this location Lookout Creek occupies a fairly broad flood plain. The flood event of 1996 resulted in blockage of the main channel and consequent establishment of a new, secondary channel.

The vegetation is variable over the plot and unforunately the understory has not been quantitatively described. To the south of the main channel on a steep toe-slope there is a stand of mature Tsuga heterophylla and Thuja plicata. Here the understory is dominated by Acer circinatum, Berberis nervosa, and Gaultheria shallon. Along the stream channels the vegetation is dominated by Alnus rubra and significant amounts of Acer macrophyllum, with an understory of Rubus spectabilis and Polystichum munitum. On gently sloping terrace and flood plain surfaces the overstory tends to be a rather scattered mixed stand of Tsuga heterophylla, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Thuja plicata. The understory is variable with species such as Oxalis oregana and Vaccinium parvifolium being especially common.