The Forêt ancienne du Lac-Larry is a protected area of old growth coniferous forest in the unorganized territory of Lac-Waker, in the Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

, in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Location

The Forêt ancienne du lac Larry is one of two protected areas in the watershed of the Aux Rochers River, the other being the proposed Pasteur Lake Biodiversity Reserve. The watershed is almost all contained in the Port-Cartier–Sept-Îles Wildlife Preserve. The Larry Lake Old Forest is located between the

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

and MacDonald Rivers. It covers an area of . The region has rugged terrain, including high hills with flat summits. The old forest grows on medium or steep slopes in shallow soil. The map shows that the forest borders Larry Lake and Jumbo Lake, and extends to the north and east of these lakes. It contains parts of other, unnamed water bodies.

Conservation status

The protected area was established in 2005, and is an

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

III exceptional forest ecosystem. It is managed by the

Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources () is the government ministry of Republic of Turkey responsible for natural resources and energy in Turkey. The ministry is headed by Alparslan Bayraktar. Despite the ministry being represented on th ...

. The forest received a national designation as an

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

in 2005. It is in the Duplessis integrated watershed management area (GIEBV). The forest is among the major natural attractions that would be included in the proposed Lake Walker National Park, the others being Lake Walker, Lake Quatre Lieues, MacDonald Falls and Aux Rochers River. The study of the park area by the Forest, Wildlife and Parks department was filed in 2018, but as of May 2009 the park proposal was waiting for funding.

Vegetation

The Lac-Larry old growth forest consists mainly of ''

Picea mariana ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the Pinaceae, pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 Canadian Arctic Lands, territories. It is the official tree of Newfo ...

'' (black spruce) and

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

trees. Most of the dominant trees are more than 200 years old, and the oldest are around 250 years old. The forest has not suffered seriously from fires, insect infestations or windstorms, and has never been disturbed by human activities. It has evolved naturally and has characteristics typical of old growth forest including abundant ''

Abies balsamea ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Ap ...

'' (balsam fir), with trees of varying ages and sizes, including very old trees. The forest is renewed naturally by gaps created in the canopy by small windfalls, a process that has probably been continuing for many years before the oldest trees took root. Due to the natural environment, even the oldest trees are relatively small, at no more than high and in trunk diameter. However, some ''

Picea glauca ''Picea glauca'', the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in Canada and United States, North America. ''Picea glauca'' is native from central Alaska all through the east, across western and s ...

'' (white spruce) are high with diameters of . The forest also contains spruce and

sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

in the wetlands, and white spruce and ''

Abies concolor ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...

'' (white fir) on the richest soil, often found at the foot of slopes and along the many streams that run through the area. The undergrowth is not rich in species. It includes '' hypnaceae'' mosses and common

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

broadleaf plants such as ''

Cornus canadensis ''Cornus canadensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native plant, native to eastern Asia and North America. Common names include Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatre-temps, crackerberry, and creepi ...

'' (bunchberry) and '' Linnaea borealis'' (twinflower). There are small patches of ''

Amelanchier alnifolia ''Amelanchier alnifolia'', the saskatoon berry, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, is a shrub native to North America. It is a member of the rose family, and bears an edible berry-like fruit. D ...

'' (Saskatoon berries).

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lac-Larry, Forêt ancienne du Protected areas of Côte-Nord Exceptional forest ecosystems of Quebec