The Central Pacific Coastal Forests stretch from southern Oregon to the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Major habitats of this diverse region include sea stacks, sandy beaches, rocky coastal cliffs, coastal headlands, tide pools, mud flats, salt marshes and estuaries, streams and rivers of various sizes, grass balds, and many forest types
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The forests of the Central Pacific Coast are among the most productive in the world, characterized by large trees, substantial woody debris, luxuriant growths of mosses and lichens on trees, and abundant ferns and herbs on the forest floor. The major forest complex consists of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), encompassing seral forests dominated by Douglas-fir and massive old-growth forests of fir, hemlock, western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and other species. These forests occur from sea level up to elevations of 700-1000 m in the Coast Range and Olympic Mountains. This forest type occupies a wide range of environments with variable composition and structure and includes such other species as grand fir (Abies grandis), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), and western white pine (Pinus monticola) (Franklin 1988).
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Although Douglas-fir is the most abundant species at lower elevations in the region, western hemlock is the major climax species. Douglas-fir typically dominates young forest because of its relatively large and hardy seedlings and rapid growth rate. Western hemlock and several other species of fir are more tolerant of shade, however, and in mature forest Douglas-fir cannot regenerate.
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WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions Collection The Central Pacific coastal forests stretch from southern Oregon in the USA to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada. Chief habitats of this varied ecoregion include a mosaic of sea stacks, sandy beaches, rocky coastal cliffs, coastal headlands, tidepools, mudflats, salt marshes, estuaries, streams, various sized rivers , grass balds and a gamut of forest types. There are a total of 324 vertebrate taxa recorded in the ecoregion, implying a modest level of faunal species richness. The Pacific coastal coniferous forests are classified within the Temperate Coniferous Forests biome, and also designated as ecoregion NA0510. The Columbia River is the river of largest volume that drains the Central Pacific coastal forests.
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