BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Vaccinium uliginosum | Bog Blueberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Bog blueberry is a low, highly branched, deciduous shrub.  It is
prostrate to erect in form and generally reaches 8 to 16 inches (20-40
cm) in height.  The leaves are oval and leathery, and twigs are slender.
Older twigs have gray, shreddy bark.  The flowers are white to pink and
are borne singly or in clusters at the ends of stems.  The fruit is a
blue to black berry [1,75,87].  Bog blueberry can form dense mats or
open extensive colonies [81].

Bog blueberry roots in the organic layer and is rhizomatous.  Rhizome
depth ranges from superficial to 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm) below the
surface [56].  Mycorrhizal associations exist on bog blueberry roots
that allow for increased plant nitrogen levels [28,48,78].  Bog
blueberry has a relatively high ratio of root biomass to shoot biomass
[32,69].  These adaptations are important for nutrient uptake in the
cold, poorly aerated, nitrogen-poor soils characteristic of bog
blueberry sites [10,32].



RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte (Nanophanerophyte)
   Chamaephyte
   Cryptophyte (Geophyte)


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Bog blueberry is capable of vegetative and sexual reproduction.  It
regenerates vegetatively by layering or sprouting from rhizomes.

Seeds of most Vacciniums are not dormant and require no pretreatment for
germination [13].  In one study, however, bog blueberry seeds exhibited
shallow dormancy, and a 30-day cold stratification at 35 degrees
Fahrenheit (2 deg C) increased germination success.  Very few stratified
or unstratified seeds germinated at temperatures below 59 degrees
Fahrenheit (15 deg C) [7].  Seed viability of most Vacciniums is of
short duration [85].

Seeds are readily dispersed by the birds and animals that eat bog
blueberry fruits [63].  Bog blueberry seedlings can colonize exposed
mineral soil [59], but seedlings are rare in established adult
populations [21].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Bog blueberry occupies sites ranging from sea level to alpine zones
[71].  It occurs in organic or inorganic soils that are generally acidic
(pH 3.5 to 6.2) [81].  Bog blueberry can tolerate a wide range of soil
moisture conditions and is found on well-drained to poorly drained
sites.  Bog blueberry is found in sites characteristic of cool-temperate
to cool-mesothermal climates [47].

Bog blueberry occurs in a wide variety of habitats, such as coastal and
interior bogs [2,6,49,51]; cottongrass tussock tundra [5,6]; low shrub
tundra [2,5,9]; sedge meadows [6,39,46]; black or white spruce woodlands
[2,5,81]; forested areas [71,87]; rocky or sandy shores of lakes and
streams [8,11,42]; rock outcrops [12,72]; and barrens [23,72].



SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Bog blueberry remains an important component of forest and woodland
understory through the early, mid-seral, and late stages of succession
[9,19].  It is important in the early shrub stages of tundra succession,
as well as in climax stages [83].  Bog blueberry can also be found in
dense, mature-climax forest stands [16,25].

Bog blueberry can sprout from underground plant parts following fire and
remains important throughout successional stages.  The following cover
and frequency percentages were found in black spruce stands in interior
Alaska [25]:

  Stage              Years after fire    Frequency(%)    Cover(%)
___________________________________________________________________
Newly burned             0 - 1              38.0      less than 0.5
Moss-herb                1 - 5              62.0           3.0
Tall shrub-sapling       5 - 30             40.0           5.0
Dense tree              30 - 55             65.0           8.0
Mixed hardwood-spruce   55 - 90             59.0           5.0
Spruce                  90 - 200+           42.0           2.0




SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Bog blueberry flowers from June to early July.  Fruits ripen from late
July through September [23,42,75].

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium uliginosum | Bog Blueberry