DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pinus albicaulis | Whitebark Pine 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The distribution of whitebark pine is split into two broad sections.
Western populations of whitebark pine extend from about 55 degrees N. in
western British Columbia, along the lower part of the Fraser River,
south into Washington and along the Cascade Mountains, southward through
the high mountains of Washington and Oregon into California.  In
northern California, whitebark pine is scattered in isolated
populations, but farther south in the Sierra Nevada of central
California it is more continuous to its southern limit near Mount
Whitney about 37 degrees N. [4,9,23].  Eastern populations occur
southward from about 55 degrees N. in central Alberta, Canada, and
follow the northern Rocky Mountains south into western Montana and
central Idaho.  Stands are extensive in northwestern Wyoming.  Except
for disjunct populations in northeastern Nevada (about 41 degrees N.),
the southern and eastern limit of whitebark pine is the Wind River
Mountains of Wyoming [4,9,23].  Whitebark pine does not occur south of
the Wyoming Basin.

The distribution of whitebark pine is strongly influenced by Clark's
nutcrackers, which are important in the dispersal of seeds and
establishment of seedlings [32,43].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     CA  ID  MT  OR  UT  WA  WY  AB  BC


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BIHO  CRLA  GLAC  GRTE  KICA  LAVO
     MORA  NOCA  OLYM  SEQU  YELL  YOSE


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


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   209  Bristlecone pine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   219  Limber pine
   256  California mixed subalpine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
In western North America whitebark pine is a dominant or codominant
species in many high-elevation forests.  In the Rocky Mountains, eastern
Cascades, and Blue Mountains, it is a minor component in mixed stands of
Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies
lasiocarpa).  It is found with mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) in
the Cascades and British Columbia Coast Ranges.  In the upper subalpine
forests of California, it is associated with subalpine fir, lodgepole
pine (Pinus contorta), western white pine (P. monticola), foxtail pine
(P. balfouriana), and limber pine (P. flexilis) [1,3,22].  Publications
using whitebark pine in classification schemes are listed below.

Coniferous forest habitat types of the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming. [42]
Forest habitat types of eastern Idaho-western Wyoming. [43]
Forest habitat types of Montana. [40]
Forest habitat types of northern Idaho:  a second approximation. [8]
Forest vegetation of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. [11]
Steppe vegetation of Washington. [10]

Related categories for Species: Pinus albicaulis | Whitebark Pine