Laval River Rare Forest

The Laval River Rare Forest is a young stand of black spruce (Picea mariana) and red pine (Pinus resinosa). The presence of red pine is unusual, since it is far from its normal range, which in Quebec is mainly the deciduous forest area to the west of the Gatineau River where the climate is milder and fires are more common. Red pines are hardly ever found on the Côte-Nord, and this stand would have needed repeated fires to have survived.^[2]

The stand is open and has developed after a fairly severe fire around 1960. It is mainly black spruce and balsam fir, but red pines are scattered throughout. The red pines have many branches, and the stems are very twisted. Trunks are sometimes over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in diameter at chest height and only 8 metres (26 ft) high, probably due to poor soil. The fire seems to have been the cause of the low density of trees and the abundant Ericaceae and lichens in the undergrowth, which reduces competition from balsam fir.^[2]

The shrub and herbaceous layer is dominated by species adapted to poor and dry environments such as sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), common blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), Cladonia rangiferina (Cladonia rangiferina), green reindeer lichen (Cladonia mitis) and northern reindeer lichen (Cladonia stellaris). The frequency of these species in the undergrowth would be expected to decrease with time unless a new fire re-establishes conditions favorable to their growth.