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Ephedra californica Intermittently Flooded Shrubland Alliance | Western Ecology Working Group of...
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Name: Ephedra californica Intermittently Flooded Shrubland Alliance
Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description: This alliance is found in southwestern deserts from southern California to the Colorado Desert. Stands occur in arroyos and washes in desert mountains and adjacent bajadas or less commonly in uplands on sand sheets and dunes. Substrates are coarse- or medium-textured sand derived from granite. The vegetation is characterized by an intermittent to open, xeromorphic short-shrub layer (<2 m tall) that is dominated or codominated by Ephedra californica and Hymenoclea salsola. Other shrubs and dwarf-shrubs present may include Adenophyllum cooperi, Ambrosia dumosa, Larrea tridentata, Lycium andersonii, Cleome isomeris (= Isomeris arborea), Opuntia ramosissima, or Senecio flaccidus. The herbaceous layer is generally sparse and often dominated by annual species except in upland stands where perennial grasses such as Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum speciosum, or Pleuraphis rigida may be present. Diagnostic of this alliance is the dominance of Ephedra californica, except for cover of Hymenoclea salsola, which may have up to two times its cover before being reclassified. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.19091.EPHEDRACALIFORN
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 16-Oct-2001 to: 01-May-2019
     
  • status: accepted
  • This Community's Level: Alliance
  • This Community's Children: [none]
Names:   Scientific: Ephedra californica Intermittently Flooded Shrubland Alliance
  Translated: California Ephedra Intermittently Flooded Shrubland Alliance
  UID: HIGHER_CLASS_UNIT.2.126266 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: A.2536