DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Coptis groenlandica | Goldthread 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Goldthread is distributed from Labrador south to Maryland and in the
Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee.  It extends west
to Alaska in small pockets across Canada, with a more continuous
distribution in Alaska and British Columbia [24,29].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - birch
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce


STATES : 
     AK  CT  DE  IN  IL  IA  ME  MD  MA  MI
     MN  NH  NJ  NY  NC  OH  PA  RI  TN  VT
     VA  WV  WI  AB  BC  MB  NB  NF  NT  NS
     ON  PE  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  APIS  BLRI  CUVA  DEWA  GLBA
     INDU  ISRO  LACL  PIRO  SARA  SLBE
     VOYA


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K012  Douglas - fir forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K020  Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K094  Conifer bog
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce - fir forest
   K099  Maple - basswood forest
   K102  Beech - maple forest
   K103  Mixed mesophytic forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K107  Northern hardwoods - fir forest
   K108  Northern hardwoods - spruce forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
     1  Jack pine
     5  Balsam fir
    12  Black spruce
    13  Black spruce - tamarack
    16  Aspen
    18  Paper birch
    20  White pine - northern red oak - red maple
    21  Eastern white pine
    22  White pine - hemlock
    23  Eastern hemlock
    24  Hemlock - yellow birch
    25  Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
    27  Sugar maple
    28  Black cherry - maple
    30  Red spruce - yellow birch
    31  Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
    32  Red spruce
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    34  Red spruce - Fraser fir
    35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
    37  Northern white-cedar
    38  Tamarack
    51  White pine - chestnut oak
    60  Beech - sugar maple
   107  White spruce
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   204  Black spruce
   205  Mountain hemlock
   215  Western white pine
   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
   251  White spruce - aspen
   253  Black spruce - white spruce
   254  Black spruce -  paper birch


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Goldthread is commonly associated with cool, moist habitats on poor to
moderately well drained soils at low to middle elevations [10].  It
often occurs in or near peatlands of various types [21].  It occurs in a
number of plant associations but is not considered indicative of
particular associations, although it is more often associated with
coniferous canopies than with hardwood [4].

In Ontario, goldthread is usually associated with sites under or near
black spruce (Picea mariana), as opposed to sites that are open or near
other tree species [8].  In northern Idaho, it usually grows underneath
western white pine (Pinus monticola) stands in association with other
moisture-loving plants [30].  In Michigan, it is scattered in open
coniferous forests on gleysolic or organic soils on sites receiving
water.  It is common in nutrient-poor wetlands and is an oxylophytic
species characteristic of Mor humus formations [26].  In New York, it
occurs in riparian areas [7].  In Labrador, goldthread is a
wide-ranging, upland species that occurs on a variety of soil types from
boggy to well-drained [14,23].

Goldthread is considered diagnostic for particular edaphic conditions
[6] (see Site Characteristics).  It occurs as a dominant understory
species in an eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)-wild lily-of-the-valley
(Maianthemum canadense)-goldthread type found in low lying areas in
northern Wisconsin and Michigan [6,27].  It is considered indicative of
minerotrophic water (water that carries mineral nutrients into the peat)
in peatlands [22].  It is an understory dominant in the mountain hemlock
(Tsuga mertensiana)-yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkaensis)/blueberry
(Vaccinium spp.) type, the western hemlock-yellow cedar/blueberry/skunk
cabbage (Lysichiton americanum) type, the Sitka spruce (Picea
sitchensis)/blueberry/American skunkcabbage type, and the mountain
hemlock/blueberry types of both low and high elevations [10].

Related categories for Species: Coptis groenlandica | Goldthread