• GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
• ECOSYSTEMS
• STATES
• BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
• KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS
• SAF COVER TYPES
• SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES
• HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:

Big huckleberry is found in Alaska and British Columbia south through the Cascade and Olympic mountains to California and east to Ontario, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming [9,37,57,72,73,157,160]. Populations also occur in 3 counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the east side of Lake Superior [157]. The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides a map of big huckleberry's distribution in the United States (http://plants.usda.gov/plants/cgi_bin/topics.cgi).

ECOSYSTEMS [53]:

FRES11 Spruce-fir
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES44 Alpine

STATES:

AK	CA	CO	ID	MT	MI
OR	SD	UT	WA	WY

AB

BC

ON

MB

SK

YK

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [13]:

1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
12 Colorado Plateau

KUCHLER [87] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

K001 Spruce-cedar-hemlock forest
K002 Cedar-hemlock-Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir-Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir-hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K008 Lodgepole pine-subalpine forest
K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa 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
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K093 Great Lakes spruce-fir forest

SAF COVER TYPES [44]:

12 Black spruce
22 White pine-hemlock
201 White spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir
207 Red fir
208 Whitebark pine
209 Bristlecone pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
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
244 Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
245 Pacific ponderosa pine

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [131]:

109 Ponderosa pine shrubland
110 Ponderosa pine-grassland
409 Tall forb
410 Alpine rangeland

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:

Depending upon environmental constraints/conditions, big huckleberry may occur as a dominant understory species with Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), western larch (Larix occidentalis), limber pine (Pinus flexilis), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), lodgepole pine (P. contorta) [6,120], and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) [120]. Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), mountain hemlock (T. mertensiana) [48], subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), noble fir (A. procera), white fir (A. concolor), western white pine (Pinus monticola), western redcedar (Thuja plicata) [161], and grand fir (A. grandis) are also dominant overstory species [46,60].

Common shrub associates include sticky flowering currant (Ribes viscosissimum), mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus) [6,21], common snowberry (S. albus), grouse whortleberry (Vaccinium scoparium), Utah honeysuckle (Lonicera utahensis), kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) [6], fool's huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea) [6,39], white spirea (Spirea betulifolia) [120,139], whiteveined wintergreen (Pyrola picta) [17], pink mountainheath (Phyllodoce empetriformis), Cascade azalea (Rhododendron albiflorum), Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis), Cascade bilberry (Vaccinium deliciosum), western moss-heather (Cassiope mertensiana), strawberryleaf raspberry (Rubus pedatus), roughfruit berry (Rubus lasiococcus) [39], little prince's pine (Chimaphila menziesii) [8], red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) [17], Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum) [43,86], Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) [117], and Oregon-grape (Mahonia repens) [8].

Common forb associates include beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) [6,17,21], Brewer's aster (Chrysopsis breweri) [6,21], pinewoods lousewort (Pedicularis semibarbata) [21], fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis) [39], queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora) [17], twinflower (Linnaea borealis), lupine (Lupinus spp.) [3], Pacific trillium (Trillium ovatum), and threeleaf foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata) [17].

Pacific Northwest: Big huckleberry is well represented in subalpine habitats [11,50,110]. In mesic subalpine communities, big huckleberry is a common understory associate of Pacific silver fir and mountain hemlock [48]. Big huckleberry is an important understory component of subalpine fir forests in the eastern Olympic Mountains, Washington [47]. Within the Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington, big huckleberry frequently occurs on dry subalpine sites with beargrass [50,110].

Big huckleberry is a dominant species within fir/hemlock (Abies/Tsuga) stands in the Cascades. Other overstory associates include Pacific silver fir, noble fir, mountain hemlock, Douglas-fir, western white pine, and western redcedar [161]. Within fir/hemlock understory communities in the Cascades of southern Washington, big huckleberry is often codominant with beargrass [50].

Big huckleberry is associated with cool western hemlock zones in the Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon. It occupies a dominant understory status in the coldest, driest portions of the western hemlock zone (usually above 2,800 feet (853 m). When overstories are dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock, common associates include prince's pine and Oregon-grape [63].

Stewart [146] compared understory composition of Douglas-fir and western hemlock stands in the west-central Cascade Range. Both stands were found on a southeast aspect at 3,740 feet (1,140 m) with a 15% slope. Fire history, mean tree age, and mean tree height were similar. Differences were in the frequency of canopy gaps: Douglas-fir at 9.3% and western hemlock at 1.3%. Big huckleberry was more frequent and possessed greater coverage (p<0.05) in Douglas-fir stands:

	western hemlock	Douglas-fir
Frequency (%)	18	44
Cover (%)	< 1	3.3

Rocky Mountain Region: Big huckleberry is a dominant shrub in subalpine fir forests of northern Utah. Subalpine fir/big huckleberry habitat types are also described for south-central and southwestern Montana, eastern Idaho, and western Wyoming [98].

In Montana big huckleberry is a major undergrowth component in pole-stage or older stands of Douglas-fir and subalpine fir [6]. Big huckleberry is an understory component of mountain hemlock communities in western Montana, where it occurs in association with beargrass, grouse whortleberry, and fool's huckleberry [58].

In west-central Idaho, big huckleberry is an important shrub in the ponderosa pine phase of climax Douglas-fir/ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus) habitats between 3,100 and 6,400 feet (945-1,951 m), and at 4,500 to 6,800 feet (1,371- 2,073 m) in the Rocky Mountain maple phase of  Douglas-fir/Rocky Mountain maple habitats  [143].

Big huckleberry is a frequently occurring understory species within the grand fir mosaic of northern Idaho [46]. It is uncommon in grand fir/Douglas-fir stands in Montana and Idaho below 3,937 feet (1,200 m), but common at higher elevations. Above 3,937 feet (1,200 m) big huckleberry is a major understory species in grand fir/western redcedar stands; it is almost unrepresented below 3,937 feet (1,200 m) where western redcedar is dominant. Big huckleberry is common in intermediate-aged stands of subalpine fir and limber pine on open slopes between 5,577 and 6,562 feet (1,700-2,000 m) and within mature stands on mesic sites [60].

In general, big huckleberry is dominant to grouse whortleberry in lower-elevation subalpine fir habitats. At mid- and higher elevations, big huckleberry is generally subordinate to grouse whortleberry, although representation is sometimes about equal [93].

Published classifications listing big huckleberry as an indicator or dominant species are listed below:

Forest types of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex [3]
Preliminary plant associations of the southern Oregon Cascade Mountain Province [7]
Preliminary plant associations of the Siskiyou Mountain Province [8]
Plant association and management guide for the Pacific silver fir zone: Gifford Pinchot National Forest [17]
Forest habitat types of northern Idaho: a second approximation [26]
Classification of montane forest community types in Cedar River Drainage of western Washington, USA [33]
Subalpine plant communities of western North Cascades, Washington [38]
The forest communities of Mount Rainier National Park [49]
Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington [48]
Plant communities of the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington [62]
Plant association and management guide for the western hemlock zone: Mount Hood [64]
Plant association and management guide: Willamette National Forest [69]
Forested plant associations of the Olympic National Forest [70]
Plant associations of the Walloma-Snake Province: Walloma-Whitman National Forest[91]
Forest habitat types of Montana [120]
Climax vegetation of Montana based on soils and climate [126]
Forest habitat types of eastern Idaho-western Wyoming [140]
The grand fir/blue huckleberry habitat type in central Idaho: succession and management [141]
Forest habitat types of central Idaho [144]
Plant association and management guide for the grand fir zone, Gifford Pinchot National Forest [152]

Related categories for SPECIES: Vaccinium membranaceum | Big Huckleberry