DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cetraria islandica | Iceland Moss 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Cetraria islandica is distributed from Canada to Alaska; south to the
Pacific Northwest, Wyoming, Colorado, the Great Lakes states, New
England, and in alpine regions in the Appalachians to Tennessee
[14,17,18].


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
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AK  CO  CT  DE  ID  ME  MD  MA  MI  MN
     MT  NH  NY  NC  OR  PA  TN  VT  VA  WA
     WV  WI  WY  AB  BC  MB  NB  NF  NT  NS
     ON  PE  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BAND  BELA  CACO  DENA  GAAR  GLAC
     GRSM  ISRO  KOVA  MORA  NOAT  NOCA
     OLYM  ROMO  SHEN  YUCH


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K025  Alder - ash forest
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K094  Conifer bog
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir 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
    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
    38  Tamarack
   107  White spruce
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   203  Balsam poplar
   204  Black spruce
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   251  White spruce - aspen
   252  Paper birch
   253  Black spruce - white spruce
   254  Black spruce -  paper birch


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Cetraria islandica occurs in various habitats including heaths, dunes,
coastal plains, lichen woodlands, bogs, meadows, and tundra
[2,4,8,23,34].  In the southern extent of its range, C. islandica is
generally restricted to alpine areas [14,43].  Cetraria islandica is a
widely distributed species, but generally does not reach ground cover
dominance.  However, the following publication lists C. islandica as a
dominant ground cover species in willow tundra:

The Alaska vegetation classification [40]

Common tundra associates of C. islandica include bog Labrador tea (Ledum
groenlandicum), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), prickly rose (Rosa
acicularis), bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), mountain cranberry
(V. vitis-idaea), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), bog birch (Betula
glandulosa), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), and willow (Salix spp.).
Other associates include bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis),
horsetails (Equisetum spp.), mosses (Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium
schreberi, Sphagnum spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), and other lichens
(mainly Cladonia spp.)  [11,15,29,37,38].

In arctic coastal plain habitats, C. islandica is found with bluegrass
(Poa spp.), purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia), sedges
(Carex spp.), cassiope (Cassiope spp.), and mountain avens (Dryas
spp.) [42].

Related categories for Species: Cetraria islandica | Iceland Moss