The Sierra Nevada upper montane forest is a

vegetation type Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the Earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management ...

found below the

treeline The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

in the United States

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

range. It is generally located above the

mixed coniferous forest Mixed conifer forest is a vegetation type dominated by a mixture of broadleaf trees and conifers.Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed, 2013, p 13–14 It is generally located in mountains, below the upper montane vegetation type. Sierr ...

and below the

alpine zone Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

. Overstory trees are typically cone shaped to shed the snow. Characteristic trees including lodgepole pine (''

Pinus contorta ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine ...

'' subsp. ''murrayana'' ), Jeffrey pine (''

Pinus jeffreyi ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Calif ...

''), western white pine ('' Pinus monticola'') California red fir (''

Abies magnifica ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...

''), and Sierra juniper ('' Juniperus grandis''), and typical understory trees and shrubs such as huckleberry oak ('' Quercus vaccinifolia'') and red heather ('' Phyllodoce breweri'').

Environment

On the western slopes of the

range, upper montane vegetation can be found at elevations from in the northern part of the range, in the central part, and in the southern part. On the eastern slopes, it is at higher elevations. Precipitation in areas of upper montane forest vegetation type is , mostly as snowfall. Summer high temperatures range from , and winter lows are below . Growing season is about four months because of long-lasting, deep snow. File:Volcanic Ridge Ansel Adams Wilderness.jpg, Volcanic Ridge from the north, Ansel Adams Wilderness, California File:Mammoth Crest from Sky Meadows.jpg, Mammoth Crest from Sky Meadows (3060m) John Muir Wilderness, California. File:Heavy Forest - panoramio.jpg, Forest in Placer County, Sierra Nevada, Tahoe National Forest, California. File:Mount Tallac from Mount Tallac Trail.jpg, Forest in Mount Tallac Trail, Desolation Wilderness, Eldorado National Forest , California.

References

{{reflist Forests of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Ecoregions of California Montane forests Temperate coniferous forests of the United States