Red Huckleberry

red huckleberry
red whortleberry

More info for the term: cover

Red huckleberry presumably provides cover for a variety of wildlife
species. It often forms dense thickets which may serve as hiding,
resting, or nesting sites for many smaller birds and mammals.

More info for the terms: fruit, shrub, shrubs

Red huckleberry is an erect or somewhat straggling, small-to-large,
deciduous shrub which generally grows 6 to 12 feet (1.8-3.6 m) in height
[15,74,98,109]. This shrub is the tallest of western huckleberries
(Vaccinium spp.) [97] and on favorable sites, occasionally reaches 25
feet (7.6 m) [15]. Plants tend to be trailing and vinelike for the
first 4 to 5 years until assuming a more erect, mature growth form [15].
Shrubs also tend to become low and straggling in dense, shady,
old-growth stands [14].

Branches are slender, green, and sharply angled [15,101]. Branches may
develop a reddish tinge in the sun and generally turn grayish-brown with
age [89]. Stem morphology has been examined in considerable detail
[79]. The small, thin, deciduous leaves are oval or elliptic and obtuse
to rounded at both ends [15,48,74]. Leaves are entire, grayish or
bright to dull green and glaucous above, and glaucous or with very short
pubescence beneath [89,97,101,109]. Leaves of mature and juvenile
plants differ significantly. Juvenile leaves are evergreen and finely
serrate, whereas mature leaves are deciduous and entire [32]. The
mature leaf form may not develop until the plant is 3 to 4 years old and
20 inches (50 cm) tall [15,109].

Urn-shaped flowers of red huckleberry are waxy, yellowish-pink, whitish,
or greenish-yellow [32,71,74]. Flowers are borne singly in the leaf
axils or in few-flowered clusters [3,60]. Floral morphology has been
studied in depth [82]. Fruit of the red huckleberry is a translucent,
bright red to pinkish, spherical berry [15,32,71] which averages 0.3
inch (8 mm) in diameter [99,109]. Red huckleberry is single-fruited
[71]. Each berry contains approximately 18 or 19 smooth, well-formed
reddish seeds or nutlets 0.04 to 0.05 inch (1-1.2 mm) in diameter
[74,99,109].

Red huckleberry grows from southeastern Alaska southward to central
California [101]. It is primarily restricted to coastal regions and
grows west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada [15,21,71].

More info for the terms: fire regime, forest, fruit, seed

Red huckleberry sprouts from the stems, roots, underground stems, or
rhizomes after aboveground vegetation is destroyed by fire [7,36,72].
Some seedling establishment may occur as birds and mammals disperse seed
from off-site.

The importance of fire in many long-lived Northwestern coastal forests,
of which red huckleberry is a component, is "poorly understood" [50].
In many parts of the Northwest, red huckleberry is an important species
on both burned and unburned sites [75]. Fire may have played an
integral role in the maintenance of productive red huckleberry fields.
Shade generally decreases fruit set in most western huckleberries [68]
and native peoples of the Northwest apparently burned red huckleberry
and other Vacciniums to maintain or enhance fruit production [64].
Increased light reaches the forest floor where crowns of trees such as
Douglas-fir have been killed by fire and promotes the growth of red
huckleberry [75]. Increased nutrient availability may also enhance
growth in postfire communities.

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".

More info for the terms: cover, fire intensity, fire suppression, forest, fruit, prescribed fire, scarification, severity

Wildlife considerations: Evidence suggests that fire suppression may be
having an adverse impact on bear habitat in some areas [96,105]. Once
productive seral berry fields are now being invaded by conifers. Since
plants beneath a forest canopy generally produce few berries, fruit
production has been declining [71]. Logging treatments which include
hot slash burns may result in decreased berry availability. Even where
timber harvest favors berry production, lack of cover in early years can
limit bear use. Wildfires often create diverse habitat mosaics [105]
which incorporate elements of hiding cover and favor bear use.

Berry production: Berry production in most western huckleberries
(Vaccinium spp.) is generally delayed for at least 5 years after fire
[68]. On some sites, production may be reduced for 20 to 30 years or
longer [68].

Prescribed fire: Flower buds tend to be more numerous on new shoots,
and periodic removal of old shoots can increase flower production in
many huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) [68]. Prescribed fire has long been
used to rejuvenate commercial low sweet blueberry (V. angustifolium)
fields and to increase fruit production [68].

Postharvest burning: Response of red huckleberry to postharvest burns
appears somewhat variable. Various factors such as fire intensity or
severity, season of burn, weather conditions, site characteristics, and
the use of mechanical scarification, are important influences. Direct
comparison between specific postharvest burns is difficult due to the
compounding effects of many variables. However, results of pertinent
studies are briefly summarized as follows:

fire and site preparation - alder (Alnus spp.) dominated
brushfields - Oregon Coast Range [85]:

June September November change
(prefire) (postfire) (postfire) (June-Nov.)
(percent cover)

34 0 11 -23

timber harvest and subsequent slash burns - Douglas-fir-western
hemlock forest - Washington [23]:

(before logging) (after logging) (after burning)
1962 1963 1964
(percent cover)

site 1 5.3 .4 .2
site 2 1.3 .8 .2
site 3 .9 .1 .1

clearcutting and broadcast slash burn - Douglas-fir-western hemlock
forest - western Cascades, Oregon [24]:

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
(before (1st yr. (after
logging) after slash
logging) burn)
(percent)

cover 2.8 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4
freq. 32.8 14.8 6.6 9.8 9.8 14.8 11.5

clearcutting, herbicide, and burn - Douglas-fir - Coast Range,
Oregon [94]:

before 1 yr. after 3 yrs. after 4 yrs. after
burn burn burn burn, 1 yr. after
release, spraying
(percent cover)

north aspect .50 .10 .70 0
south aspect 3.00 0 1.20 1.20

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More info for the terms: geophyte, phanerophyte

Phanerophyte
Geophyte

More info for the terms: duff, forest, mesic, shrub

Red huckleberry grows in moist-to-dry conifer or mixed conifer-hardwood
forests, along roadsides, and in forest openings [94,101]. It is common
in lowlands, mountain valleys, on river terraces, alder (Alnus spp.)
flats, and lower mountain slopes [27,47,71]. Red huckleberry is
tolerant of sun or shade [98] and occurs in dense or open, submontane to
subalpine forests [58,60]. In many areas, it reaches greatest abundance
on mesic, south aspects with slopes of less than 45 percent [41]. Red
huckleberry commonly grows on mossy, rotting logs, snags, or stumps.
Seeds are frequently deposited on these sites by perching birds [44,60].
Plants have been observed growing on broken or sawed stumps up to 50
feet (15 m) off the ground [89].

Soil: Most huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) require acidic soils and can
grow on infertile sites which have relatively small amounts of many
essential elements [59]. Red huckleberry commonly grows on
nitrogen-poor soils [58]. Soils may be very nutrient poor to nutrient
rich [32] but are often characterized by accumulations of duff and humus
[97]. In southeastern Alaska, red huckleberry typically occurs on soils
with a pH of 4.0 to 5.0 [76,95]. Red huckleberry grows on soils derived
from a variety of parent materials including serpentine, quartz diorite,
diorite, and gabbro [103]. Soils are often stony and shallow [46].

Climate: Red huckleberry is restricted to humid, mesothermal climatic
zones in British Columbia [57]. Along the coast of western Oregon it is
most commonly found in areas with a foggy maritime climate [42]. As
continental influences increase, this shrub decreases in abundance [58].

Elevation: Red huckleberry grows from sea level to 5,000 feet (0-1,524
m) [97]. Generalized elevational ranges by geographic location are as
follows [74,103]:

< 5,000 feet (1,524 m) in CA
1,500-4,500 feet (460-1,370 m) Siskiyou Mtns., CA, OR

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

207 Red fir
211 White fir
215 Western white 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
231 Port Orford-cedar
232 Redwood
234 Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K006 Redwood forest
K007 Red fir forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K029 California mixed evergreen forest

More info for the terms: duff, forest

Red huckleberry is described as "moderately resistant" to fire [36] but
aboveground vegetation is commonly killed. In northwestern Oregon, dead
stems of red huckleberry were in evidence soon after a "severe" fire in
a Douglas-fir forest [75]. Underground regenerative structures such as
roots, rhizomes, or "stems" often persist, enabling portions of the
plant to survive many, if not most, fires. Yerkes [104] observed
numerous survivors after postharvest slash burns in the Oregon Cascades.
Survival is presumably most likely after light to moderate fires which
do not remove soil or duff.

Seeds of most huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) are susceptible to heat and
are presumably killed by fire [68].

More info for the terms: fruit, shrub

Browse: Red huckleberry is an important big game browse in some parts
of the Northwest, particularly during the fall and winter months
[97,101]. It provides valuable forage for deer, mountain goats, and elk
[101]. In western Washington, red huckleberry is an important elk
browse [90,98]. Large amounts of new leaves are eaten in the spring but
this shrub is of primary importance during the fall [90]. Elk use may
be heavy in some areas [42]. Elk utilization of 60 to 90 percent has
been reported on the Olympic Peninsula [90].

In many areas, red huckleberry is one of the most important winter foods
of the black-tailed deer and is used heavily until covered by snow
[78,106]. Deer consume the fruit, leaves, twigs, leafy shoots, and
newly-developing sprouts [14,54]. Brown [14] observed heaviest use
during April, May, and October, but others have reported peak use during
early winter when lower-growing vegetation is covered with snow [46].
Red huckleberry can grow beyond the reach of deer on some sites [14].
Small mammals also browse red huckleberry. In the Coast Range of
Oregon, it is a preferred food of the mountain beaver [49].

Red huckleberry is used locally by domestic sheep and to a lesser
degree, by cattle [21]. On Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
plantations in parts of Oregon, it may be preferred by domestic sheep in
all seasons [63].

Fruit: Berries of red huckleberry are eaten by a wide variety of birds
and mammals. Thrushes, catbird, band-tailed pigeon, bluebirds,
ptarmigans, towhees, ring-necked pheasant, and spruce, ruffed, blue, and
sharp-tailed grouse readily consume the fruit of many huckleberries
(Vaccinium spp.) [69,98]. Fruit of the red huckleberry is a preferred
food of chicks and adult blue grouse on Vancouver Island [56] and
elsewhere [98]. Many mammals including black bear, deer mice,
white-footed mouse, raccoon, pika, ground squirrels, chipmunks, red fox,
squirrels, gray fox, and skunks, also eat the berries of Vacciniums
[69,98]. Along the coast of British Columbia, grizzly bears seek out
the fruit of huckleberries [8,37].

More info for the terms: association, codominant, fern, forest, mesic, natural, succession

Red huckleberry occurs in mixed evergreen forests dominated by Jeffrey
pine (Pinus jeffreyi), sugar pine (P.lambertiana), incense-cedar
(Libocedrus decurrens), canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), tanoak
(Lithocarpus densiflorus), and Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesia) [74].
It is a common understory component of coastal coniferous forests made
up of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), western hemlock (Tsuga
heterophylla), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga mensiezii), red fir (Abies magnifica), red alder (Alnus
rubra), and Port-Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
[4,12,39,44,50,74,81]. Red huckleberry is particularly abundant in wet
or dry, coastal western hemlock or western hemlock-Sitka spruce forests
where it often forms dense thickets [32,101]. However, it is relatively
rare in interior cedar-hemlock forests of British Columbia [34]. Red
huckleberry occurs on warmer sites in the Pacific silver fir zone [43]
and on relatively mesic sites in grand fir (Abies grandis) forests of
southwestern Oregon [108]. Common codominants in published
classification schemes include menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea), salal
(Gaultheria shallon), Alaska huckleberry (Vaccinium alaskaense),
broadleaf starflower (Trientalis latifolia), and thimbleberry (Rubus
parviflorus).

Plant associates: In coastal forests, red huckleberry commonly grows in
association with salmonberry (Rubus spectablis), blue huckleberry
(Vaccinium membranaceum), thimbleberry (R. parviflorus), trailing
blackberry (R. ursinus), menziesia, fiveleaved bramble (R. pedatus),
salal, ovalleaf huckleberry (V. ovalifolium), dwarf Oregon-grape
(Berberis nervosa), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), lady fern (Athyrium
filix-femina), and oak fern (Gymnocarpium spp.) [14,27,42,76]. Pinemat
manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis), California coffeeberry (Rhamnus
california), baldhip rose (Rosa gymnocarpa), California-laurel
(Umbellularia californica), tanoak, boxleaf silktassel (Garrya
buxifolia), and huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia) are common
associates in mixed evergreen forests of southwestern Oregon and
northern California [102].

Published classifications listing red huckleberry as an indicator or
codominant in community types or plant associations are presented below.

Preliminary plant associations of the Siskiyou Mountain Province [5]
Forest associations and secondary succession in the southern Oregon
Coast Range [6]
Plant communities and environmental relationships in a portion of the
Tillamook Burn, northwestern Oregon [7]
Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington [29]
Ecoclass coding system for the Pacific Northwest plant associations [35]
Plant association and management guide: Siuslaw National Forest [42]
Plant communities in the old-growth forests of north coastal Oregon [45]

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info for the terms: cover, scarification, shrub, tree

Competition: Red huckleberry commonly persists after logging in conifer
and mixed conifer-hardwood stands [94]. It forms an important component
of many long-lived seral brushfields [32,40,53] and sometimes competes
with conifer regeneration [80]. On tree plantations in the coastal
Sitka spruce-western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) zone, it competes
effectively with conifer seedlings by the fifth growing season [87].
However, Hays [41] notes that this shrub is rarely a major competitor on
coastal sites in British Columbia.

Mechanical removal: Most western huckleberries are damaged by
postlogging treatments which include harsh scarification [68]. This
appears to be true of red huckleberry as well [41]. Plants are often
restricted to areas of relatively undisturbed soil [24]. Results of
several types of mechanical treatments as applied to coastal brushfields
of Oregon are as follows [54]:

spray and crush scarification
(frequency - percent)

before disturbance 72 44
after disturbance 6 --

Plants occasionally sprout within the first year after timber harvest
[87]. Response of red huckleberry after timber harvest was documented
as follows in coastal British Columbia [53]:

prelogging 3-4 years 13 years 42 years
control
(quadrat frequencies - percent)

18 9 24 7

Silviculture: Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) can
generally be successfully planted in the white fir (Abies concolor) zone
wherever red huckleberry occurs on wetter sites [5].

Chemical control: Huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) exhibit variable
susceptibility to herbicides such as 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, glyphosate,
karbutilate, and picloram [13]. Response of red huckleberry to
applications of glyphosate in coastal brushfields of Oregon was
documented as follows [54]:

glyphosate spray and brush
(percent frequency)

before disturbance 53 63
after disturbance 3 --

Wildlife considerations: Huckleberries are an extremely important food
source for grizzly bears [68]. Both black and grizzly bears typically
exploit areas with dense concentrations of berries. The habitat value
of huckleberry shrubfields to grizzly bears can be increased by
permanent, or at least seasonal, road closures, by coordinating timber
harvest dates to have minimal impact on habitat use patterns, and by
considering the cumulative effects of habitat modification across a
broad area. In general, site preparation should include minimizing soil
compaction, using cool rather than hot slash burns, or by eliminating
site preparation entirely wherever possible [68]. Grizzly use is
favored where hiding cover is retained by treating small, irregular
patches instead of large contiguous areas, and by leaving stringers of
timber within larger cuts [105]. In many areas, bear-human conflicts
are most likely to occur during years of huckleberry crop failure
[68,86].

Heavy ungulate browsing of red huckleberry has been observed on winter
ranges in some parts of Washington [90]. In some areas, it is
considered a good indicator of "present conditions and trends" [90].
Maximum utilization of 50 to 70 percent has been proposed [90].

Biomass: Red huckleberry biomass in coastal Douglas-fir forests was
documented as follows [66]:

stand age (years) 22 30 42 73
biomass (kg/hectare) -- -- -- 4.6

More info for the term: fruit

Browse: Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.) foliage is relatively high in
carotene, manganese, and energy content [20,38]. Red huckleberry browse
provides nutritious forage for deer in coastal British Columbia and
Alaska [78]. However, food value apparently varies seasonally [14,78]
and with site conditions [41]. Nutrient content peaks at the beginning
of the growing season, and during this time, browse exceeds deer
requirements for digestible energy [78]. A composite analysis of red
and blue huckleberry (V. membranaceum) browse in western Washington
revealed the following values [14]:

crude ether crude N-free total Ca Mg K PO4
protein extract fiber extract ash
(percent)

7.57 3.56 35.71 46.90 1.38 1.032 0.201 0.535 0.434

Fruit: Vaccinium berries are sweet and contain high concentrations of
both mono- and di-saccharides [107]. Berries are rich in vitamin C and
energy content but low in fats [51,84]. Specific nutrient content of
red huckleberry fruit has been documented as follows [77]:

kjoules calories protein carbo. ash Fe Mg Zn ascorbic Ca lipid
x 10 3 (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) acid(mg) (g) (g)
(per gram of dry weight)

16.48 3.94 0.16 0.72 0.02 0.04 0.55 0.01 3.54 2.16 0.09

AK CA ID OR WA BC

More info for the terms: fresh, fruit, shrub

Red huckleberry fruit has been variously described as "palatable but
..sour," "tart and not well-flavored," "sour but good," and of a
"pleasant flavor although somewhat dry" [71,97,89,101]. Menzies, an
early traveler to the Northwest, described red huckleberry fruit as
"preferable... to the well-known cranberries" [100]. Fruit is gathered
locally for pies, jelly, jam, and preserves [89,101], but this shrub is
generally not considered an important fruit producer [71]. Berries are
readily available and easily harvested [64]. Approximately 8.5 ounces
(250 ml) can be harvested within an 8-minute period [64].

Red huckleberry fruit was an important traditional food source for many
native peoples of the Northwest including the Nuxalk of the Bella Coola
region of British Columbia [64,77,109]. Berries were eaten fresh or
preserved [64]. Dried fruit provided an important source of vitamin C
during the winter months.

Red huckleberry, an attractive and valuable ornamental, is well suited
for a variety of garden uses [47,60]. In the fall, reddish leaves
present a striking contrast to the bright green branches [48]. Red
huckleberry has no known value for breeding commercial fruit-producing
strains [89].

Overall palatability of red huckleberry browse is described as moderate
[21]. Leafless shoots are preferred during winter by black-tailed deer
in western Washington and in the Coast Ranges of Oregon [14,46].
Palatability of red huckleberry browse to Roosevelt elk on the Olympic
Peninsula of Washington is reported to be "good" [90]. Berries are
highly palatable to a wide variety of birds and mammals.

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More info for the term: fruit

Leaves of red huckleberry emerge in spring before flowering occurs [60]
and commonly persist until heavy frost in early winter [48,101].
Seasonal development by geographic location has been documented as
follows [19,48,64,74,101]:

location flowering fruit ripening

AK May-June mid to late August
BC --- July-September
CA May-June ---
OR May-June July-August
WA --- August-September
Northwest April-June ---

More info for the terms: cover, duff, fire intensity, forest, frequency, litter, mesic, seed, severity

Vegetative response: Red huckleberry commonly sprouts from the stem,
roots, or rhizomes [7,36,72] after fire damages or removes aboveground
foliage. However, fire intensity and severity significantly influence
vegetative response. Plants may not resprout on severely burned sites
where underground regenerative structures have been seriously damaged or
destroyed.

Evidence suggests that sprouting may be more likely on relatively mesic
south aspects. On the Tillamook Burn of northwestern Oregon, sprouts
were twice as frequent on a southeast aspect as on a northwest exposure
[75]. Stewart [94] observed the following number of stems and sprouts
after logging and fire in coastal Oregon:

before burn 1 yr after burn
(# original stems/acre) (# orig. stems & sprouts/acre)

north aspect 550 0
south aspect 1,220 1,440

Seedling establishment: Seeds of most huckleberries are of short
viability and are readily killed by heat [68]. Consequently,
seedbanking does not appear to represent an important regenerative
strategy in red huckleberry. However, birds and mammals do transport
some seed from off-site.

Postfire recovery: On most burned sites, only minor long-term changes
in red huckleberry abundance occur [36]. In many areas, distribution of
red huckleberry in preburn communities essentially determines postburn
distribution [7]. On light to moderately burned sites, postburn cover
closely resembles that of the original unburned communities [36].
However, on severely burned sites, reductions in cover often occur as
fire removes duff or litter, thereby damaging underground regenerative
structures [36,62].

Red huckleberry initially decreases after fire [23,24,36,85] but then
increases in subsequent years [104]. Where plants resprout, recovery
may be relatively rapid. Within 14 weeks after fire in the Coast Range
of Oregon, red huckleberry clumps averaged nine stems with an average
diameter of 6.7 inches (17 cm) per clump [85]. Each clump averaged 7.8
inches (20 cm) in height [85]. Red huckleberry was absent during the
first year after an intense postharvest burn in a cedar-hemlock forest
of coastal British Columbia [62]. Within 18 months after fire, some
huckleberry plants were present, but plants had not regained vigor 3
years after fire [62]. Plants eventually reached unburned levels within
11 to 16 years after slash burns in Oregon [73]. Cover and frequency of
red huckleberry in a western hemlock-western redcedar-Douglas-fir forest
of Northern Cascades National Park increased as follows after wildfires
in 1970 [70]:

1971 1972 1974
(percent)

frequency 0 13 34.8
cover 0 -- 0.9

More info for the terms: rhizome, root crown, shrub

Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

More info for the terms: forest, fresh, fruit, rhizome, seed, shrub, stratification

Red huckleberry is capable of reproducing through seed or by vegetative
means. Vegetative regeneration appears to be of primary importance in
most western huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) [68], but unlike many
western huckleberries [68], seedling establishment may play a fairly
important role in the regeneration of red huckleberry [109]. Kruckeberg
[60] notes that seedlings are generally abundant wherever parent plants
occur.

Seed: Red huckleberry seed is typically produced in abundance. An
average shrub in British Columbia produced approximately 1,400 flowers
annually, of which nearly 90 percent set fruit [109]. Up to 25 percent
of the seeds ultimately germinated [109].

Huckleberry seedlings first emerge in approximately 1 month and continue
to emerge for long periods of time in the absence of cold stratification
[19]. Seeds of red huckleberry require no special treatment for
germination to occur [60]. Properly stored seed exhibited good
germination when exposed to alternating regimes of 14 hours of light at
82 degrees F (28 degrees C), and 10 hours of darkness at 56 degrees F
(13 degrees C) [113]. Fresh seed also germinated well under these
conditions and when treated under alternating temperatures of 71 degrees
F (22 degrees C) and 41 degrees F (5 degrees C) [113].

Seed disperal: Seeds are readily dispersed by many birds and mammals
[47,60,92]. The digestive processes of animals may promote germination
[92].

Seedling establishment: Establishment is favored on thick, acidic
forest floors which have a high water-holding capacity [57].
Germination on nurse logs is common [22,93] and may account for most
germination on some sites [22]. Approximately 7 percent of all seed
produced by red huckleberry eventually develops into vigorous seedlings
[109].

Vegetative regeneration: Red huckleberry typically sprouts or "suckers"
after plants are damaged by fire, mechanical removal, or herbivory
[15,36,87,109]. Branch or stem sprouting is also common after fire or
herbivores remove much of the crown [15,36]. This shrub is rhizomatous
[41,71,91] and presumably sprouts from these underground portions after
aboveground portions are eliminated. Rhizome spreading may allow for
clonal expansion even in the absence of disturbance. Sprouting from
roots or "underground stems" has also been reported [2,7], although
these modes of vegetative regeneration have not been well documented.

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains

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More info for the terms: climax, cover, herbaceous, seed, shrub, shrubs, succession, tree

Red huckleberry occurs as a climax shrub in western hemlock, western
hemlock-Sitka spruce, Douglas-fir, and redwood forests of the Northwest
[2,10,11,18,29,33,64,95]. It is also capable of surviving many types of
disturbances and can be important in certain seral communities.

Western hemlock: Red huckleberry dominates many seral communities in
western hemlock forests of the Northwest and is particularly common on
unburned clearcuts [41]. In the Cascade Range, red huckleberry assumes
prominence during the initial herbaceous stage of succession which
occurs 0 to 5 years after disturbance [26]. Certain seral red
huckleberry/salal communities ultimately develop into western
hemlock/vine maple (Acer circinatum)/salal or western
hemlock/salal-western swordfern (Polystichum munitum) types [29]. In
parts of coastal British Columbia, red huckleberry grows in initially
disturbed, second growth, and old growth stands in western hemlock
forests [64]. However, in drier maritime forests, it may be present in
early mature to mature old-growth stands [57].

Sitka spruce-western hemlock: Red huckleberry, along with salal, is an
important early seral species in many spruce-hemlock forests of the
Northwest [45]. In parts of southeastern Alaska, it commonly sprouts or
develops from seed during the first 3 years after logging [2]. Sprouts
are often common in relatively protected areas such near root mounds,
logs, and stumps [1]. Dense shrub stands develop within 20 to 30 years
after timber harvest, and by 50 to 60 years after disturbance, a nearly
continuous layer of huckleberry often develops [1]. During postlogging
succession, many shrubs, including red huckleberry, are eliminated or
reduced after tree canopies close and before they begin to open again at
stand ages of 150 to 200 years [2]. Red huckleberry is common in
old-growth Sitka-spruce-western hemlock forests (250+ years),
particularly in more open areas [2]. It occurs in mature climax stands
on floodplain gravel bar communities of Vancouver Island but is absent
on newly exposed floodplain sites where parent plants are lacking [18].
Red huckleberry is a prominent component of mature Sitka spruce-western
hemlock-western redcedar forests of British Columbia [81].

Western hemlock-Douglas-fir: Red huckleberry occurs in climax [93] and
seral western hemlock-western redcedar-Douglas-fir communities [6]. In
western hemlock-Douglas-fir forests of western Washington, this shrub
may be absent initially after timber harvest, but plants "soon" sprout
[14]. Cover typically peaks during "stage 2" of succession which is
characterized by dense shrub growth [14]. Red huckleberry abundance
declined as conifers and deciduous trees develop into a closed canopy
[14]. In northwestern Oregon, it may be replace by devil's club
(Oplopanax horridum) where extremely dense shade develops [93]. Cover
of red huckleberry has been documented as follows after sites in the
western hemlock-Douglas-fir zone in the western Cascades of Oregon were
clearcut, broadcast burned, and planted with Douglas-fir [88]:

years

2 5 10 15 20 30 40 undist. old growth

0.65 0.61 0.79 3.72 1.15 2.92 1.34 1.31

Douglas-fir: Red huckleberry occurs in both newly disturbed and
old-growth stands in Douglas-fir forests of the Northwest. It was
present in recent clearcuts on the Olympic Peninsula but was not
observed in 300-year-old stands [28]. It was, however, observed in
old-growth stands in parts of western Oregon [33]. Cover by stand age
was documented as follows in Washington [65]:

stand age (years) 5 22 30 42 73

cover (percent) 0.01 0.80 3.76 1.80 1.32

The currently accepted scientific name of red huckleberry is Vaccinium
parvifolium Sm. [52].

More info for the term: seed

Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.) seedlings grown in the greenhouse can be
transplanted onto favorable sites 6 to 7 weeks after emergence [19].
Seed collection and storage techniques have been considered in detail
[19].

Vaccinium parvifolium, the red huckleberry, is a species of Vaccinium native to western North America.