Name:
Abies lasiocarpa Krummholz Shrubland Alliance
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
These dwarf-tree shrublands are a matrix type in the upper treeline areas of the Rocky Mountains. Elevations range from 3600 m in Colorado down to 2000 m in northern Montana. Climate is cold, temperate often with heavy winter snow, short cool summers, and windswept most of the year. Sites are nearly level to steeply sloping, often on more mesic north aspects. Soils are shallow, lithic gravelly or sandy loams typically derived from granite or schist. Rock outcrop is common. Stands are a mosaic of dense patches of dwarfed evergreen conifer trees (usually less than 2 m tall), alpine meadow or fellfields. The woody canopy is dominated by stunted Abies lasiocarpa often with Picea engelmannii codominating. Other woody species include shrubs and dwarf-shrubs, such as Phyllodoce glanduliflora, Kalmia polifolia, Ribes montigenum, Salix brachycarpa, Salix glauca, Salix planifolia, Vaccinium membranaceum, and Vaccinium scoparium, that may be present to codominant. The herbaceous layer is sparse under dense shrub canopy, or may be dense where the shrub canopy is open or absent. It is often dominated by mesic or xeric alpine forb and graminoid species, but may include subalpine species especially in protected areas. Characteristic species may include the forbs Antennaria spp., Artemisia scopulorum, Geum rossii, Polemonium pulcherrimum ssp. delicatum, Potentilla diversifolia, Sedum lanceolatum, Sibbaldia procumbens, Thalictrum occidentale, Trifolium dasyphyllum; and the graminoids Calamagrostis purpurascens, Carex spp., Festuca brachyphylla, Kobresia myosuroides, Poa spp., and Trisetum spicatum. Adjacent vegetation includes subalpine forests dominated by Abies lasiocarpa, Picea engelmannii or Pinus contorta at lower elevations, or alpine meadows and fellfields at higher elevations.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.18333.ABIESLASIOCARPA
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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