Pacific Lowland Mixed Forest Province
Contents
Pacific Lowland Mixed Forest Province (Bailey)
Puget-Willamette Lowland, 14,900 mi2 (38,600 km2)
Land-surface form
The Pacific Lowland Mixed Forest occupies a north-south depression between the Coast Ranges and the Cascade Mountains. Elevations range from sea level to 1,500 ft (460 m). The Willamette Valley has nearly level to gently sloping floodplains bordered by dissected high terraces and hills. The Puget Sound Valley is a moderately dissected tableland covered by glacial till, glacial outwash, and lacustrine deposits. This province includes isolated hills and low mountains.
Climate
Because this province is close to the Pacific Ocean, its climate is generally mild throughout the year. Annual temperatures average 48 to 55F (9 to 13C). The moderate rainfall reaches its maximum in winter; summer has a slight moisture deficit. Average annual rainfall ranges from 15 to 60 in (380 to 1,530 mm); but in much of the area, the range is from 30 to 45 in (760 to 1,150 mm). Coastal mountains are responsible for the drier and less muted climate. Fog partially compensates for the summer drought.
Vegetation
Before cultivation, dense coniferous forest dominated the vegetation here. Principal trees are western red cedar, western hemlock, and Douglas-fir. In interior valleys, the coniferous forest is less dense than along the coast and often contains deciduous trees, such as big-leaf maple, Oregon ash, and black cottonwood. There are prairies that support open stands of oaks or are broken by groves of Douglas-fir and other trees; principal indicator species are Oregon white oak and Pacific madrone. Poorly drained sites with swamp or bog communities are abundant.
Soils
Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Ultisols are the principal soil orders. Inceptisols dominate in Puget Sound Valley.
Fauna
The fauna are closely related to those of the surrounding Cascade Province. Mule deer is the most common large mammal. Chief mammalian predators are the mountain lion and bobcat. The western gray squirrel lives in oak trees, and the bushytail wood rat builds nests on shrub-covered stream margins and at forest edges. Isolated thickets are inhabited by brush rabbit and gray fox.
Ruffed grouse inhabit the same scattered thickets. The dusky Canada goose winters exclusively in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The periodically abundant acorn crop attracts flocks of band-tailed pigeons, acorn woodpeckers, and mountain quail.
The dry terrain is ideal for reptiles, including the northern Pacific rattlesnake, the only poisonous snake in the Pacific Northwest.
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