DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Populus balsamifera ssp. balsamifera | Balsam Poplar 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Balsam poplar occurs mainly in riparian areas of boreal and montane
conifer forests [35].  Its distribution extends from Alaska across most
of Canada to Labrador and Newfoundland [93,101].  In British Columbia it
is restricted to areas east of the Rocky Mountains [8,36].  Balsam
poplar is rare in the northwestern United States, with sketchy records
of its existence in Idaho and Oregon [32].  It occurs sparingly in the
Rocky Mountains of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado
[25,26,27,35,36,37,105,106] and extends east through the northern Great
Plains to the Atlantic Coast.  It is found along creekbanks, moist
hillsides, sandhill potholes, and knolls in North and South Dakota [93].
North and east of the Great Plains, balsam poplar forms extensive
floodplain forests [35].  New York [32] and West Virginia [61,101] are
alternately reported as the southern extreme for this tree in the
eastern United States.


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES19  Aspen - birch
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie


STATES : 
     AK  CO  CT  DE  ID  IL  IN  IA  ME  MD
     MA  MI  MN  MT  NE  NH  NJ  NY  ND  OH
     OR  PA  RI  SD  TN  UT  VT  VA  WV  WI
     WY  AB  BC  LB  MB  NB  NF  NT  NS  ON
     PE  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  APIS  DENA  GATE  GLAC  GRTE
     GRSM  INDU  ISRO  LACL  PIRO  ROCR
     ROMO  SHEN  SLBE  THRO  VOYA  WICA
     WRST  YELL  YUCH


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K017  Black Hills pine forest
   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K063  Foothills prairie
   K064  Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
   K066  Wheatgrass - needlegrass
   K067  Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
   K074  Bluestem prairie
   K081  Oak savanna
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K094  Conifer bog
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   Eastern Forest Cover Types:
     1  Jack pine
     5  Balsam fir
    38  Tamarack
    16  Aspen
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    37  Northern white cedar
    39  Black ash - American elm - red maple
   
   Western Forest Cover Types:
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   203  Balsam poplar
   251  White spruce - aspen
   252  Paper birch
   253  Black spruce - white spruce
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   217  Aspen
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   235  Cottonwood - willow


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Balsam poplar is a seral species that occurs primarily in ecotones
between boreal forest and tundra or prairie, and along streams and
rivers.  It is most common in white spruce (Picea glauca) forests of
Canada but can extend beyond the conifer treeline in western Canada and
Alaska [63].  Classifications including balsam poplar as a dominant
component in community types (cts), plant associations (pas), or
ecosystem associations (eas) are listed below.

Area                  Classification            Authority

Alaska                general veg. pas          Viereck 1989
                      general veg. cts          Viereck and Dyrness 1980
                      postfire forest cts       Foote 1983

British Columbia      general veg. eas          Pojar & others 1984
Alberta               general veg. cts          Dirschl & others 1974
wc Alberta            forest cts                Corns 1983    
Ontario               forst eas                 Jones & others 1983
Canada                general veg. pas          Roi 1967
                         boreal forests

Related categories for Species: Populus balsamifera ssp. balsamifera | Balsam Poplar