Ecoregions of Washington State

1. Ecoregions of Washington State BES 489 Winter 2009

2. Washington State Ecoregions Marine Nearshore West-side Montane To Alpine Douglas-fir / Grand fir Sitka Spruce Palouse Prairie Western Hemlock Shrub Steppe Ponderosa Pine West-side Montane – Alpine: Silver fir; Mountain hemlock; Subalpine fir; Alpine

3. Marine Nearshore Ecoregion • Ecoregion below mean low low tide • We will only address the upper edge of these ecosystems in examining shoreline ecosystems of • Sitka Spruce (outer coast) and • Western Hemlock (Puget Sound) ecoregions

4. Bothell Sitka Spruce Ecoregion Typical Ecosystems: Shoreline Ecosystems: Rocky intertidal Beach / Dune Estuaries Coastal Bogs Sitka Spruce Forests Riparian

5. Outer Coast Toleak Point Sitka spruce forest High energy shorelines

6. Rocky Intertidal Outer Coast Characteristic ecosystem of high energy shorelines

7. Rocky Intertidal Fidalgo Head, Deception Pass Sharp biological zonation Upper intertidal Fucus zone

8. Rocky Intertidal Rialto Beach Sharp biological zonation Mussels (Mytilus edulus)

9. Ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceous

10. Rocky Intertidal Rialto Beach Intense biotic interactions Sea slug consuming a sponge Ochre sea stars and giant green anemone in tidepool

11. Outer Coast Coastal Strand • Environmental Challenges • Mobile substrate • Nutrient Poor • Droughty & windy • Salt spray & sand abrasion

12. Coping with a Coastal Strand Habitat Dune grasses bind the mobile substrate European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria)

13. Coping with a Coastal Strand Habitat Clonal forbs also bind the loose substrate Succulent leaves help with drought & abrasion Searocket (Cakile edentula)

14. Oyster farming Willapa Bay Japanese Oyster (Crassotrea gigas)

15. Foggy Sitka Spruce forests

16. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) Coastal dominant from Oregon to Alaska

17. Coastal Temperate Rainforest Big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)

18. Coastal Bogs Embayed hydrology created by old coastal dune geomorphology

19. Coastal Bogs: cranberry farming

20. Bothell Sitka Spruce Ecoregion Typical Ecosystems: Rocky Intertidal Coastal Bogs Beach / Dune Sitka Spruce Forests Estuaries Riparian

21. Estuaries /Tideflats Nisqually River Estuary • Very high productivity • Low species diversity • Variable salinity & inundation From: The Natural History of Puget Sound Country A.R. Kruckeberg

22. Estuaries /Tideflats Padilla Bay Eelgrass beds

23. Estuaries /Tideflats Batallaria snails Padilla Bay

24. Estuaries / Tideflats: Human Impacts “Our Changing Nature” Washington State Department of Natural Resources 1998

25. Saltgrass Pickleweed Estuaries / Tideflats:Diking & Draining for Agriculture Diking creates sharp zonation Nisqually Delta Padilla Bay

26. Estuaries /Tideflats:High Productivity Snow geese Skagit Delta

27. Western Hemlock Ecoregion

28. Western Hemlock EcoregionTypical Ecosystems • Low elevation forests: western hemlock, Douglas-fir, western red cedar • Streams, lakes • Estuaries, freshwater wetlands • Prairies & oak woodlands • Bogs

29. Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii Western Hemlock Ecoregion • Low elevation forests • Forests originally dominated by large, old evergreen trees • Western hemlock, western red cedar, Douglas-fir

30. Western Hemlock Ecoregion Woody Debris Nurse Log

31. Western Hemlock Ecoregion Understory plants adapted to stressful conditions • Chronic light shortage • Acidic • Low nutrients • Dry summers

32. Western Hemlock Ecoregion:Deciduous Forests Red alder Alnus rubra

33. Western Hemlock Ecoregion: Land Management Forest harvest Wishkah Valley

34. Western Hemlock Ecoregion:Land Management Plantation forest Old growth forest

35. Western Hemlock Ecoregion: Water Features create ecological heterogeneity in a sea of forest Wetlands & streams provide unique environments / habitats

36. Western Hemlock Ecoregion: Prairies & Oak Woodlands offer unique habitats Puget Prairies Mima Mounds Fort Lewis

37. Western Hemlock Ecoregion: Prairies & Oak Woodlands offer unique habitats Dwindling Prairies Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Fort Lewis

38. West-side Montane to Alpine Ecoregions Ecoregions • Silver fir ecoregion • Mountain hemlock ecoregion • Subalpine fir ecoregion • Alpine ecoregion

39. West-side Montane to Alpine Ecoregions Western WA Eastern WA Western hemlock

40. West-side Montane to Alpine Ecoregions Alpine Mountain hemlock Silver fir White River Valley

41. Silver fir Ecoregion:Typical Ecosystems • Montane forests:Silver fir, Noble fir, Douglas-fir, Alaska yellow cedar • Riparian, lakes & other wetlands

42. Silver fir Ecoregion Mid elevation west side forests

43. Silver fir Ecoregion • Thin soils • Cool temperatures • Short growing seasons

44. Silver fir Ecoregion Lakes provide important sites of environmental heterogeneity within a sea of evergreen forest

45. Mountain Hemlock Ecoregion High elevation snowy subalpine forests Typical Ecosystems: Mountain hemlock forests Subalpine meadows Riparian & lake areas

46. Mountain Hemlock Ecoregion Mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)

47. Forest – meadow mosaics at high end Closed canopy forests at lower end Mountain Hemlock Ecoregion

48. Results Mountain Hemlock Ecoregion Snow avalanches are an important ecological feature

49. Subalpine Fir Ecoregion High elevation dry subalpine forests Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)

50. Subalpine Fir Ecoregion:Typical Ecosystems Subalpine fir forests(+ whitebark pine, Alaska yellow cedar, mountain hemlock) Subalpine meadows / grasslands Riparian, lakes