The Nabisipi River Old Forest (french: Forêt ancienne de la Rivière-Nabisipi) is a protected area of old-growth forest in the
Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada.
It is classified as an
exceptional forest ecosystem.
Location
The Nabisipi River Old Forest is in the unorganized territory of
Aguanish in
Minganie Regional County Municipality of the Côte-Nord region.
It is northeast of
Havre-Saint-Pierre.
It is to the northeast of Lake Watshishou.
It is in the watershed of the
Watshishou River.
It is to the west of the
Nabisipi River
The Nabisipi River (french: Rivière Nabisipi) is a salmon river in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It flows into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Location
The Nabisipi River rises in Lake Saumur.
It flows for to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence we ...
, from which it takes its name.
The ground is mainly covered by undifferentiated
glacial till of variable depth.
The forest is administered by Quebecʻs Ministry of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Parks, Forest Environment Directorate.
It was designated old-growth forest in 2005, and has IUCN management category III.
A map of the
ecological regions of Quebec shows the Nabisipi River Old Forest in the east spruce/moss subdomain.
Flora
The Nabisipi River Old Forest contains
balsam fir (''Abies balsamea'') trees 200 years old, a remarkable age for this species, and
black spruce
''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...
(''Picea mariana'') trees up to 270 years old.
It has not been seriously affected by natural disturbances such as fire, wind storms or outbreaks of insects, and avoided the
hemlock looper
''Lambdina fiscellaria'', the mournful thorn or hemlock looper, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in North America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast and from Canada south to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.
The adult ...
(''Lambdina fiscellaria'') outbreak in the Côte-Nord region in 1998–2001.
It has also not been disturbed by forestry or other human activities.
The wet climate has helped produce a long cycle of more than 500 years between fires.
This has allowed massive stands of balsam fire to become established and to grow to their high proportion of the forest trees.
The mature old-growth forest includes very old, senescent trees and the greatly decomposed debris of tree trunks as large as any now living.
Renewal occurs when small gaps are created by the fall of isolated trees or small groups of trees.
The spruce and fir are roughly equal in numbers, and there are also some
white spruce (''Picea glauca'') and
paper birch (''Betula papyrifera'').
The understory and regenerating areas contain the same trees as the canopy, as well as
shadbush
''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a g ...
(''Amelanchier'') and
alder (''Alnus incana'').
Herbaceous cover is thin but very diverse, with the most common species being
Canadian bunchberry (''Cornus canadensis''),
creeping snowberry Creeping snowberry is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* ''Gaultheria hispidula''
* '' Symphoricarpos hesperius''
* '' Symphoricarpos mollis''
ReferencesCreeping snowberryat Integrated Taxonomic Information System
The Integra ...
(''Gaultheria hispidula'') and
mountain woodsorrel (''Oxalis montana'').
Mosses cover much of the ground, particularly
red-stemmed feathermoss (''Pleurozium schreberi''),
knights plume moss (''Ptilium crista-castrensis'') and
glittering woodmoss (''Hylocomium splendens'').
Sphagnum covers the remaining space.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabisipi River Old Forest
Exceptional forest ecosystems of Quebec
Protected areas of Côte-Nord
Protected areas established in 2008
2008 establishments in Quebec