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A.1856 | EcoArt 2002
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Name: A.1856
Reference: EcoArt 2002
Description: Sparse stands of dune vegetation included in this alliance occur in the lower Sonoran and Colorado deserts below 100 m elevation. The climate is arid. Summer temperatures are hot, and winters only rarely dip below freezing. Precipitation has a bimodal distribution with almost half occurring from July to September and the rest occurring during the winter months. Annual precipitation varies greatly year to year. Stands occur on active and partially stabilized dunes. Sites are level to steep and occur on all aspects. Substrate is deep, shifting dune sand. This alliance includes the sparse stands of vegetation that occur on active dunes in southwestern Arizona. Total vegetation canopy cover may be less than 10% and is dominated by the dwarf-shrub ~Eriogonum deserticola$. The perennial bunchgrass ~Pleuraphis rigida (= Hilaria rigida)$ is codominant in some stands. Species diversity is typically low compared to adjacent vegetation. Stands in the Yuma Desert have cover values of 9% total vegetation with 5.8% ~Eriogonum deserticola$, 1.4% ~Ephedra trifurca$, and 1% ~Pleuraphis rigida$. Other species present include shrubs and dwarf-shrubs, such as ~Ambrosia dumosa, Croton wigginsii, Larrea tridentata, Parkinsonia microphylla, Psorothamnus emoryi$, and the forbs ~Brassica tournefortii, Cryptantha$ sp., ~Dicoria canescens$, and ~Palafoxia arida$. Adjacent vegetation is ~Larrea tridentata$ and ~Ambrosia dumosa$ desertscrub. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.1556.A1856
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 17-Mar-2005
     
  • status: accepted
  • Community's Parent: VII.C.1.N.a
  • This Community's Level: Alliance
  • This Community's Children: [none]
Names:   Scientific: ERIOGONUM DESERTICOLA SPARSELY VEGETATED ALLIANCE
  Code: A.1856
  Common: Colorado Desert Wild Buckwheat Sparsely Vegetated Alliance
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(undetermined) Eriogonum deserticola Sparsely Vegetated Alliance