Subalpine Ecosystem

Sprague Lake

NPS Photo / Jim Ecklund

 

Subalpine forests give way to mountain lakes like Odessa Lake.

NPS

A maze of evergreen trees covers the mountainsides in subalpine areas. Hidden among the trees are crystal clear lakes and fields of wildflowers that may surprise you. The subalpine ecosystem occupies elevations just below tree-line between 9,000 and 11,000 feet.

A typical subalpine forest may consist mostly of subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce. However, previously-burned areas may contain varying amounts, or even almost pure stands, of lodgepole pine. Lodgepole seedlings do well in sunlight, often abundant after fire, but once the forest is established, plant succession may result in increasing amounts of spruce and subalpine fir. Ground cover in a previously-burned forest area often includes two species of huckleberry.

Limber pine, with flexible twigs and needles in groups of five, may also be part of subalpine forests. In high, windblown areas, limber pines often grow into grotesque shapes.

Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, which grow straight and tall in the lower subalpine forests, become shorter and deformed nearer treeline. Even as the trunk grows upward, strong, cold, dry winds may destroy new growth on the windward side, leaving permanent growth only on the lee side of the trunk. Trees with branches on only one side are often called banner trees or flag trees.

 

Lush meadows of wildflowers grow tall in the subalpine.

NPS

At treeline, tree seedlings may germinate on the lee side of rocks and grow only as high as the rock provides wind protection. Further growth is more horizontal than vertical, and additional rooting may occur where branches contact the soil. The resulting low growth of dense trees is called krummholz. Snow cover may protect krummholz trees during the winter, but branches higher than wind-shelters or snow cover are usually destroyed. Well-established krummholz trees may be several hundred to a thousand years old.

 

Follow the links below to learn about life in the Subalpine.

 

 

Trees
Engelmann Spruce	Limber Pine	Subalpine Fir
Shrubs
Cinquefoil	Elder	Vaccinium	Wax Currant
Wood's Rose
Herbaceous Plants
Colorado Blue Columbine	Heartleaf Arnica	Pipsissewa	Sneezeweed
Fairy Slipper	Lousewort	Sedge	Twinflower
Gentian	Needle Grass	Senecio
Birds
Blue Grouse	Hermit Thrush	Pine Siskin	Townsend's Solitaire
Brown Creeper	Mountain Chickadee	Raven	Williamson's Sapsucker
Clark's Nutcracker	Northern Goshawk	Red Crossbill	White Breasted Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco	Olive-Sided Flycatcher	Ruby Crowned Kinglet	Woodpecker (Downy and Hairy)
Gray Jay	Pine Grosbeak	Stellar's Jay	Yellow-Rump Warbler
Mammals
Black Bear	Coyote	Meadow Vole	Porcupine
Bobcat	Deer Mouse	Mountain Lion	Shrew
Bushy-Tailed Wood Rat	Elk	Mule Deer	Snowshoe Hare
Chickaree	Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel	Nuttall's Cottontail	Yellow-Bellied Marmot
Chipmunk	Long-Tailed Weasel	Pine Marten