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Description: |
The Sub-Boreal
Pine–Spruce Zone is an unique landscape
dominated by dry lodgepole pine forests
and abundant wetlands. There is little agricultural
or urban development in the zone, but forestry
and ranching are extensive. Cattle range
widely through forests, meadows, and wetlands.
Although the zone contains fewer tree species
than nearly any other part of British Columbia,
the dry forest undergrowth with its dwarf
shrubs, low herbs, mosses, and rich col-lection
of lichens is unique within British Columbia.
The Sub-Boreal Pine–Spruce Zone is located
on the high, gently rolling Fraser Plateau
and the southernmost Nechako Plateau in
the central interior of British Columbia.
In the west, it extends onto the leeward
lower slopes of the Coast Mountains, as
well as the lower slopes of the Itcha and
Ilgachuz ranges. Although most of the zone
occurs west of the Fraser River in the area
known as the Chilcotin, a separate strip
occurs east of 100 Mile House. The Sub-Boreal
Pine–Spruce Zone lies at elevations of 850–1300
m in the north and as high as 1500 m in
southern and western parts. There are no
major towns in this zone, but numerous lakes,
including Tsacha, Anaheim, Charlotte, Palmer,
Stum, McIntosh, and Bonaparte, are located
here. The lakes are part of a drainage system
that includes the Chilcotin, West Road (or
Blackwater), Dean, San Jose, and Bonaparte
rivers.
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