MAPPING UNIT ATTRIBUTE CODE: 42004

MAPPING UNIT NAME: Lodgepole pine type.

DOMINANT SPECIES: Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)

DESCRIPTION: Forest which is dominated by lodgepole pine and not significantly
affected by logging. Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir may be mixed with the canopy
trees or important in the understory, but not as dominants.

DISTRIBUTION: Lodgepole pine is absent from the Pike's Peak area and reaches it's
southern limit of distribution in southern Colorado. The species is also absent form the
west slope of the Rockies in southern Colorado.

ELEVATION RANGE: 1830-3354m (6000-11000') especially above 2440m

DIAGNOSTIC SPECIES: Pinus contorta

NOTES: Lodgepole pine forests are generally found in between the spruce fir and the
Douglas fir types in elevation. Lodgepole pine is a widespread species that can form
steady state forests under certain conditions, but usually occurs as a post fire invader.
In fact, it is viewed as an archetypal post fire species (Peet, 1988). Typically, stands of
lodgepole pine are replaced by more shade tolerant species such as subalpine fir and
Engelmann spruce at higher elevations and by Douglas fir at lower elevations. This
type also generally has a very sparse herb or shrub understory (Peet, 1988).
Lodgepole pine is found on sites where the frost free season is 80 120 days, but
appears to be tolerant of frost at any time. This type also occurs in a wide range of
precipitation zones (Garrison, 1977).

Moir (1969) suggests that lodgepole pine is seral to Douglas fir in montane forest
below about 2500m and that the type is best represented on north facing slopes. It is
also seral above about 2835m on deep soils to spruce fir forests. Moir then refers to
the zone between 2500 and 2835m on deep soils with upland exposures as the
lodgepole pine zone on the eastern slope of the Front Range. Most lodgepole pine
stands are one storied, even aged, and uniform in stem and crown geometry.

Habitat and community types identified by the Forest Service for the P. contorta series
include, on warm dry sites, association with Carex foenea. On cool dry sites, it is
associated with Juniperus communis, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium scoparium, and
Carex geyeri. On both type of sites it can be found with Shepherdia canadensis. Tree
associates are P. menziesii, P. engelmannii, A. lasiocarpa, and P. tremuloides
(Alexander, 1987).