|
Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
|
|
Introductory
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
ABBREVIATION :
ATHFIL
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
ATFI
COMMON NAMES :
lady fern
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for lady fern is Athyrium
filix-femina (L.) Roth. Recognized subspecies, varieties, and forms are
as follows [12,39]:
A. filix-femina ssp. angustum (Willd.) Clausen
A. filix-femina ssp. asplenioides (Michx.) Hulten
A. filix-femina var. cyclosorum (Ledeb.) Moore
A. filix-femina var. michauxii (Spreng.) Farw.
forma michauxii
forma elatius (Link) Clute
forma rubellum (Gilbert) Farw.
forma laurentianum (Butters) Fern.
LIFE FORM :
Fern or Fern Ally
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Crystal Walkup, September 1991
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Walkup, Crystal J. 1991. Athyrium filix-femina. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Lady fern is a circumpolar species, occurring from Alaska to the
Atlantic, south to California, Texas, and Florida [38]. The variety
cyclosorum is found from Alaska south to California; variety michauxii
occurs from Labrador and Newfoundland west to northern Saskatchewan and
south to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa [12].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES37 Mountain meadows
STATES :
AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA
ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA
MI MN MS MO MT NH NJ NY NC ND
OH OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT
VA WA WV WI WY BC LB MB NB NF
ON PQ SK
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
ACAD ALPO APIS BITH BLRI BUFF
COLO CRLA DEWA EFMO GATE GLBA
GLAC GRTE HOSP ISRO JOFL MACA
MORR MORA NATR NOCA OLYM REDW
ROMO SAJH SARA SHIL SLBE VOYA
YELL YOSE
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
15 Black Hills Uplift
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K006 Redwood forest
K007 Red fir forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
5 Balsam fir
12 Black spruce
16 Aspen
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
32 Red spruce
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
37 Northern white cedar
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
217 Aspen
221 Red alder
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
232 Redwood
237 Interior ponderosa pine
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
251 White spruce
252 Paper birch
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Lady fern occurs as a dominant or subdominant in the following habitat
type (hts), plant association (pas), riparian site type (rst), and
community type (cts) classifications:
Area Classification Authority
n Wisconsin forest hts Kotar and others 1988
Washington: Mt forest pas Moir and others 1988
Rainier Natl Park
c, e Montana riparian veg, rst, Boggs and others 1989
cts, hts
n Idaho forest cts, hts Cooper and others 1991
Alaska: Kenai forest cts Reynolds 1990
peninsula
OR: Willamette Valley forest cts Thilenius 1968
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
The fronds of lady fern provide a food source for grizzly bears
[5,19,30]. Roosevelt elk consume lady fern in the fall on the Olympic
Peninsula, but it is not a major food species [32]. It is listed as
fair elk and deer food in the Olympic National Forest of Washington
[14]. Lady fern contains filicic acid and therefore may be poisonous to
some classes of livestock [14,28].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Silvicutural treatments have had variable effects on lady fern. In
western Montana lady fern was absent from logged redcedar (Thuja
plicata) sites, but in black spruce (Picea mariana) clearcuts in
Ontario, Canada, lady fern was present only on the logged sites [8].
Lady fern is a major competing species in boreal and sub-boreal spruce
(Picea spp.) forests. Scarification decreases presence and height of
lady fern, thereby benefitting tree regeneration [7].
Lady fern may indicate high mass wasting potential when found growing
vigorously or in significant numbers (coverage of 10 percent or more).
Its absence, however, does not imply slope stability [27].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Lady fern is an introduced deciduous perennial fern. Tufted, erect
fronds may grow to 6.6 feet (2 m). They spread vegetatively from stout,
chaffy rhizomes. Lady fern is often confused with wood fern (Dryopteris
carthusiana) but can be readily distinguished by its elongate, sometimes
curved (rather than round) sori, which are covered by an indusium
attached on one side [12].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Undisturbed State: Cryptophyte (geophyte)
Burned or Clipped State: Cryptophyte (geophyte)
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Lady fern reproduces by rhizomes and spores. Following the eruption of
Mount St. Helens, lady fern sprouted from axillary buds of transported
rhizomes [1].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Lady fern is found growing in meadows, open thickets, moist woods, and
occasionally in swamps [12]. In West Virginia it occurred in marshy
areas where water stood 2 to 4 inches deep (5.0 to 10.2 cm), even in the
dry season [9]. It commonly grows in the understory of western
redcedar, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii), white spruce (Picea glauca), and black spruce [4]. It may
reach 50 to 100 percent cover under some redcedar stands where seepage
maintains high soil moisture [36].
Elevations at which lady fern occurs vary by geographic location as
follows:
Location Elevation
Arizona 7,000 to 9,000 feet (2,134-2,743 m) [21]
California 4,000 to 9,500 feet (1,219-2,896 m) [26]
Idaho 4,100 to 4,300 feet (1,250-1,311 m) [34]
Utah 7,400 to 10,500 feet (2,250-3,200 m) [38]
Vermont 1,600 to 2,200 feet (480-670 m) [33]
West Virginia 1,100 to feet (334 m) [9]
British Columbia 2,950 feet (900) [7]
Ontario 1,000 feet (305 m) [7]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Lady fern can colonize cracks in rocks and crevices between rocks,
making it a true pioneer species. More frequently it occurs as a
dominant on perennially wet soil with other herbs. It can survive
severe battering if roots are protected and in constant contact with
water [10].
Lady fern is not a pioneer species in Sitka spruce floodplains on the
west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It appears initially
in the young seral stage under the cover of red alder (Alnus rubra), and
increases in cover value from the young seral to the mature climax
stage. It is a dominant herb in these mature climax floodplain forests
dominated by Sitka spruce and western hemlock [11]. In Sitka
spruce-western hemlock forests of southeast Alaska, lady fern, along
with spreading woodfern (Dryopteris austriaca) and bunchberry (Cornus
canadensis), tends to dominate in the early stages of succession (1 to
25 years after logging) on moist microsites where tree and shrub
regeneration is sparse [2]. In Glacier National Park, Montana, lady
fern is characteristically restricted to climax cedar-hemlock forests
[18].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Lady fern fronds began dropping in early October in Oregon, apparently
as a result of frost. Usually all fronds have dropped by November [10].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Lady fern often occurs on wet sites that burn infrequently. The
redcedar/lady fern habitat type is characterized by infrequent (> 200
years), low-intensity fires [3].
Lady fern resprouts from surviving rhizomes following fire.
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
survivor species; on-site surviving rhizomes
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Lady fern is top-killed by fire.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Fire decreases lady fern cover and frequency on drier sites, but
resprouting is likely on subhygric sites [20]. Lady fern did not
survive a moderate severity fire in mature western red cedar and western
hemlock stands in northern Idaho[34].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Athyrium filix-femina | Lady Fern
REFERENCES :
1. Adams, A. B.; Dale, V. H.; Smith, E. P.; Kruckeberg, A. R. 1987. Plant
survival, growth form and regeneration following the 18 May 1980
eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Northwest Science. 61(3):
160-170. [6886]
2. Alaback, Paul B. 1984. Plant succession following logging in the Sitka
spruce-western hemlock forests of southeast Alaska. Gen. Tech. Rep.
PNW-173. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 26 p. [7849]
3. Arno, Stephen F.; Davis, Dan H. 1980. Fire history of western
redcedar/hemlock forests in northern Idaho. In: Stokes, Marvin A.;
Dieterich, John H., technical coordinators. Proceedings of the fire
history workshop; 1980 October 20-24; Tucson, AZ. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-81.
Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 21-26. [12809]
4. Bailey, Arthur Wesley. 1966. Forest associations and secondary
succession in the southern Oregon Coast Range. Corvallis, OR: Oregon
State University. 166 p. Thesis. [5786]
5. Banner, Allen; Pojar, Jim; Trowbridge, Rick; Hamilton, Anthony. 1986.
Grizzly bear habitat in the Kimsquit River Valley, coastal British
Columbia: classification, description, and mapping. In: Contreras, Glen
P.; Evans, Keith E., compilers. Proceedings--grizzly bear habitat
symposium; 1985 April 30 - May 2; Missoula, MT. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-207.
Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain
Research Station: 36-49. [10810]
6. Boggs, Keith; Hansen, Paul; Pfister, Robert; Joy, John. 1990.
Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in
northwestern Montana. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, School of
Forestry, Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station, Montana
Riparian Association. 217 p. Draft Version 1. [8447]
7. Brand, David G. 1991. The establishment of boreal and sub-boreal conifer
plantations: an integrated analysis of environmental conditions and
seedling growth. Forest Science. 37(1): 68-100. [14408]
8. Brumelis, G.; Carleton, T. J. 1989. The vegetation of post-logged black
spruce lowlands in central Canada. II. Understory vegetation. Journal of
Applied Ecology. 26: 321-339. [7864]
9. Bush, Eleanor M. 1988. A floristic study of a wet meadow in Barbour
County, West Virginia. Castanea. 53(2): 132-139. [10117]
10. Campbell, Alsie Gilbert; Franklin, Jerry F. 1979. Riparian vegetation in
Oregon's western Cascade Mountains: composition, biomass, and autumn
phenology. Bull. No. 14. Seattle, WA: U.S./International Biological
Program, University of Washington, Ecosystem Analysis Studies,
Coniferous Forest Biome. 90 p. [8433]
11. Clement, C. J. E. 1985. Floodplain succession on the west coast of
Vancouver Island. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 99(1): 34-39. [8928]
12. Cody, William J.; Britton, Donald M. 1989. Ferns and fern allies of
Canada. Ottawa, ON: Agriculture Canada, Research Branch. 430 p. [13078]
13. Cooper, Stephen V.; Neiman, Kenneth E.; Roberts, David W. 1991. (Rev.)
Forest habitat types of northern Idaho: a second approximation. Gen.
Tech. Rep. INT-236. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Intermountain Research Station. 143 p. [14792]
14. Dayton, William A. 1960. Notes on western range forbs: Equisetaceae
through Fumariaceae. Agric. Handb. 161. Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service. 254 p. [767]
15. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
16. Freedman, June D.; Habeck, James R. 1985. Fire, logging, and
white-tailed deer interrelationships in the Swan Valley, northwestern
Montana. In: Lotan, James E.; Brown, James K., compilers. Fire's effects
on wildlife habitat--symposium proceedings; 1984 March 21; Missoula, MT.
Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-186. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 23-35. [8319]
17. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
18. Habeck, James R. 1968. Forest succession in the Glacier Park
cedar-hemlock forests. Ecology. 49(5): 872-880. [6479]
19. Hamilton, Anthony; Archibald, W. Ralph. 1986. Grizzly bear habitat in
the Kimsquit River Valley, coastal British Columbia: evaluation. In:
Contreras, Glen P.; Evans, Keith E., compilers. Proceedings-grizzly bear
habitat symposium; 1985 April 30 - May 2; Missoula, MT. Gen. Tech. Rep.
INT-207. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station: 50-56. [10811]
20. Hawkes, B. C.; Feller, M. C.; Meehan, D. 1990. Site preparation: fire.
In: Lavender, D. P.; Parish, R.; Johnson, C. M.; [and others], eds.
Regenerating British Columbia's forests. Vancouver, BC: University of
British Columbia Press: 131-149. [10712]
21. Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H.; Howell, John Thomas; McClintock,
Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. 1085 p. [6563]
22. Kotar, John; Kovach, Joseph A.; Locey, Craig T. 1988. Field guide to
forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of
Wisconsin, Department of Forestry; Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources. 217 p. [11510]
23. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
24. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession
following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall
Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council
fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No.
14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
25. Moir, W. H.; Hobson, F. D.; Hemstrom, M.; Franklin, J. F. 1979. Forest
ecosystems of Mount Rainier National Park. In: Linn, Robert M., ed.
Proceedings, 1st conference on scientific research in the National
Parks: Vol I; 1976 Nov. 9-12; New Orleans, LA. National Park Service
Transactions and Proceedings Series No. 5. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service: 201-207. [1674]
26. Munz, Philip A. 1973. A California flora and supplement. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. 1905 p. [6155]
27. Pole, Michael W.; Satterlund, Donald R. 1978. Plant indicators of slope
instability. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Sept-Oct: 230-232.
[8199]
28. Ratliff, Raymond D. 1985. Meadows in the Sierra Nevada of California:
state of knowledge. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-84. Berkeley, CA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and
Range Experiment Station. 52 p. [8275]
29. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
30. Reichert, Chris. 1989. Silviculture in grizzly bear habitat. In:
Silviculture for all resources: Proceedings of the national silviculture
workshop; 1987 May 11-14; Sacramento, CA. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 48-60. [6398]
31. Reynolds, Keith M. 1990. Preliminary classification of forest vegetation
of the Kenai Penninsula, Alaska. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-424. Portland, OR:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
Research Station. 67 p. [14581]
32. Schwartz, John E., II; Mitchell, Glen E. 1945. The Roosevelt elk on the
Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Journal of Wildlife Management. 9(4):
295-319. [8878]
33. Siccama, T. G.; Bormann, F. H.; Likens, G. E. 1970. The Hubbard Brook
ecosystem study: productivity, nutrients and phytosociology of the
herbaceous layer. Ecological Monographs. 40(4): 389-402. [8875]
34. Stickney, Peter F. 1985. Data base for early postfire succession on the
Sundance Burn, northern Idaho. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-189. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 121 p. [7223]
35. Thilenius, John F. 1968. The Quercus garryana forests of the Willamette
Valley, Oregon. Ecology. 49(6): 1124-1133. [8765]
36. Turner, David P.; Franz, Eldon H. 1986. The influence of canopy
dominants on understory vegetation patterns in an old-growth
cedar-hemlock forest. American Midland Naturalist. 116(2): 387-393.
[7469]
37. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
38. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry
C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo,
UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
39. Wofford, B. Eugene. 1989. Guide to the vascular plants of the Blue
Ridge. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 384 p. [12908]
Index
Related categories for Species: Athyrium filix-femina
| Lady Fern
|
 |
