SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
Introductory
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Snyder, S. A. 1993. Gymnocarpium dryopteris. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis//plants/fern/gymdry/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
GYMDRY
SYNONYMS :
Dryopteris disjuncta (Ledeb.) Mort.
Dryopteris linnaeana Christens.
Phegopteris dryopteris (L.) Fee
Thelypteris dryopteris (L.) Slosson
SCS PLANT CODE :
GYDR
COMMON NAMES :
western oakfern
oak fern
TAXONOMY :
The commonly accepted scientific name for western oakfern is Gymnocarpium
dryopteris (L.) Newm. in the family Polypodiaceae. There are two
subspecies as follows [18]:
Gymnocarpium dryopteris ssp. disjunctum (Rupr.) Sarvela
G. dryopteris ssp. dryopteris
The synonym Dryopteris disjuncta is used frequently in the literature
[8,9,22].
LIFE FORM :
Fern or Fern Ally
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Western oakfern has a circumboreal distribution [16]. In North America it
occurs form Alaska south to isolated populations in Oregon and east
across all provinces of Canada to the Atlantic Coast. It occurs
throughout New England south to Virginia and west to Ohio. Scattered
populations are found in the northern Midwest states of Wisconsin,
Michigan, and Minnesota, and it reaches as far south as Iowa. Western oakfern
also occurs in isolated populations of the Intermountain West and in New
Mexico and Arizona [28]. Gymnocarpium dryopteris ssp. disjunctum is
found along the West Coast and in parts of Idaho and eastern Washington
[18].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
STATES :
AK AZ CO CT ID IA ME MD MA MI
MN MT NH NJ NM NY OH OR PA RI
SD VT VA WA WV WI WY AB BC MB
NB NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
5 Balsam fir
12 Black spruce
13 Black spruce - tamarack
16 Aspen
18 Paper birch
23 Eastern hemlock
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
37 Northern white-cedar
38 Tamarack
60 Beech - sugar maple
107 White spruce
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
203 Balsam poplar
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
221 Red alder
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
251 White spruce - aspen
252 Paper birch
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Publications listing western oakfern as a dominant species are as follows:
Preliminary classification of forest vegetation of the Kenai Peninsula,
Alaska [30]
Forest habitat types of northern Idaho: a second approximation [7]
Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in northwest
Montana [4]
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Grizzly bear in the Selkirk Mountains, Idaho, have been observed eating
western oakfern fronds [1]. Elk on Vancouver Island eat western oakfern, but use is
low in spring and summer [15].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Because of its ease and success at transplanting, western oakfern is a desirable
garden plant [16].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Western oakfern can interfere with the growth of Engelmann spruce (Picea
engelmannii) seedlings [5]. Glyphosate can injure western oakfern when applied
from July to September [26]. It controls growth of western oakfern following
harvesting, allowing growth of desired tree species. Western oakfern responses
to logging vary. In areas where logging leads to decreases in site
moisture, western oakfern will decrease [8]. In wet, high-elevation areas
logging can increase western oakfern abundance [25].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
The deciduous western oakfern is delicate in appearance and grows up to 11.8
inches (30 cm) tall [17]. Its petioles are 4 to 12 inches (10-30 cm)
long and parallel to the ground [21]. The blade is divided into three
triangular leaflets [17]. Each petiole arises from a single node on the
creeping rhizome [21]. Spore covers are absent [16].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Chamaephyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Western oakfern reproduces by spores and sprouts from rhizomes. The spores are
adapted for high wind dispersal [18]. There is much outcrossing in this
species, and no intragametophytic fertilization [18]. Spores have been
found in soil seedbanks where adult plants are absent [23]. Spores have
sprouted in a greenhouse from soil samples taken from beneath canopy
gaps in northern hardwood forests [24].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Western oakfern occurs on mesic to wet sites in mixed conifer and northern
hardwood stands [20]. Soils are moist to well-drained, with pH ranging
from 4.5 to 6.4 [7,10,36]. Soil textures are gravelly or sandy to silty
clay loams [4,7]. Western oakfern grows at elevations from 21 to 1,700 feet
(7-518 m) in the Adirondacks [20]. In Alberta it occurs from 1,960 to
4,300 feet (600-1,300 m), and in Idaho western oakfern occurs at elevations
between 2,500 and 4,500 feet (760-1,370 m) [7,10]. Western oakfern occurs on
moderately steep slopes and northeast to north and west aspects [7,10].
Some plant species associated with western oakfern include Alaska-cedar
(Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), devil's club (Oplopanax horridus), alder
(Alnus spp.), mountain maple (Acer spicatum), red-osier dogwood (Cornus
sericea), twinberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata), thimbleberry
(Rubus parviflorus), prickly rose (Rosa acicularis), highbush cranberry
(Viburnum edule), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), heartleaf arnica
(Arnica cordifolia), starry Solomon's-seal (Smilacina stellata), and
bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis) [7,10,12,14,17,30].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Western oakfern is an indicator of cool, moist sites and mid- to late-seral
forests [4,21,22,30]. Western oakfern will grow on disturbed sites before
canopy cover is established in the subboreal spruce (Picea) zone of
British Columbia [14]. It is present in that zone in both mesic seral
communities and climax forests. Similarly, in spruce-hemlock (Tsuga)
forests of southeast Alaska western oakfern will begin establishing in 25- to
35-year-old stands following disturbance by logging or fire [1]. They
will then dominate the understory for the following century. Western oakfern
has been used as a site-quality indicator species on lodgepole pine
(Pinus contorta) and white spruce (Picea alba) stands in west-central
Alberta [34]. It is also used as a secondary indicator of slope
instability in grand fir (Abies grandis)/pachistima (Pachistima
myrsinites) habitat types on the Clearwater National Forest, Idaho [27].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Western oakfern unfolds its fronds in early spring [6] and senesces in autumn
[16].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Western oakfern has rhizomes which may allow it to sprout following fire [25].
Because spores are stored in the soil seed bank, fires that do not damage
upper soil layers may not permanently eliminate western oakfern from an area.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the
FEIS home page
under "Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire can top-kill western oakfern, and repeated burning can significantly reduce
it's frequency [25,32].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
In white spruce climax forests of Alaska, light surface fires usually do
not affect understory species composition, of which western oakfern is a part
[22]. However, stand-replacement fires that completely eliminate white
spruce result in early seral communities where western oakfern is not present.
In cedar-hemlock forests of northern Idaho, western oakfern successively
decreased in abundance on sites that were logged, slashpile-burned,
broadcast burned once, and burned two or more times over a 30-year
period [25].
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Western oakfern appears to decrease in constancy and/or cover following logging
and burning [14].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
In the East Slope Region of central Alberta, western oakfern is not present
until the climax stages of succession following fire [9]. On severely
burned sites in northern Idaho (where all trees and groundlayer
vegetation was consumed), western oakfern appeared in the third postfire year
only [32]. This occurrence was rare because western oakfern is not considered a
fire-surviving species. In the subboreal spruce zone of British
Columbia, western oakfern was present within 10 years following fire on four
sites ranging from fairly dry to wet [14]. Fires were broadcast burns
following logging, and its effects on specific plants were not studied
at the time of the fire.
Hamilton's Research Papers (Hamilton 2006a, Hamilton 2006b) and
Research Project Summary provide information on prescribed fire and
postfire response of many plant species, including western oakfern, that was not
available when this species review was originally written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Gymnocarpium dryopteris
REFERENCES :
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spruce-western hemlock forests of southeast Alaska. Ecology. 63(6):
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in the Selkirk Mountains, northern Idaho. In: Contreras, Glen P.; Evans,
Keith E., compilers. Proceedings--grizzly bear habitat symposium; 1985
April 30 - May 2; Missoula, MT. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-207. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
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