Vegetation Within A Portion of the Copper-Nickel Study Region

Cluster analysis of data from 277 Braun-Blanquet releves differentiates 11 major forested communities in a 1,450 sq km area of northeastern Minnesota. Upland communities include black spruce-jack pine, jack pine, red pine, aspen-birch, aspen-birch-fir, and mixed conifer-deciduous. Forested wetland communities include black spruce, tamarack, cedar, ash, and alder carr. The greatest floristic differences are between those communities at opposite extremes of the moisture spectrum, and greatest similarities between red pine and aspen-birch-fir communities. Floristic similarities and differences are-reflected by the positions of communities in the synecological ·moisture nutrient field Structural differences between upland communities are more notable than floristic differences