Caribou Wilderness - Flora, Fauna and Fungi

Flora, Fauna and Fungi

The forest is lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine, Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, white and red fir, western white pine, Incense Cedar, and hemlock.

21 of Caribou's lakes are stocked by air with rainbow trout. Black-tailed deer and black bears along with squirrels, chipmunks, and the protected (from hunting) pine marten live here. There are bald eagles and ospreys overhead, mergansers and grebes on the ponds and lakes.

Much smaller in size, but critically important to the forest ecosystem are the fungi. The cup fungus, for instance, can be found in the Caribou. As the sanitary agents of the forest that consume dead organic matter, fungi spread on the floor of a conifer area. Fungal spores blow in on the winds and take up residence at the foot of trees. One type, called the king bolete, is the edible mushroom most sought. Not all fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the trees, some fungi are parasitic, causing heartwood rot. Along some trails in the Caribou, hikers will see a timber-destroying (causes brown rot) pore fungi called the red-belt fomes. It is a white and yellow fungi on the bark of both white fir and red fir trees. An interesting aspect of red-belt fomes is that it has a laquared feel if touched.