Sibbaldia procumbens occurs in arctic and alpine environments in widely disjunct locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is one of the rarest native plants in New England, with only a single station in New Hampshire. To inform conservation efforts for this species near the southeastern periphery of its North American range, we studied S. procumbens in alpine snowbeds on the Uapishka Plateau (Monts Groulx) in central Québec, a relatively poorly known mountain range in the Grenville geologic province where the species is abundant enough to evaluate associated site characteristics. Sibbaldia procumbens was positively correlated with slope, southern aspect, and elevation, with the highest abundances associated with 22–26° slopes, 100–230° aspect, and elevations of 1024–1039 m. At our site in Québec, S. procumbens was more abundant in association with bare rock, supporting the findings of previous authors that S. procumbens may benefit from some level of disturbance. We also quantified the dominant vascular plant species in both snowbed and summit communities on the Uapishka Plateau.
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1 January 2012
Site Characteristics for Sibbaldia procumbens (Rosaceae) on the Uapishka Plateau (Monts Groulx), Québec, with Notes on the Alpine Flora
Lisabeth L. Willey,
Michael T. Jones
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Rhodora
Vol. 114 • No. 957
January 2012
Vol. 114 • No. 957
January 2012
arctic-alpine
disturbance
Monts Groulx
Québec
Rosaceae
Sibbaldia procumbens
Snowbed