Name:
Atriplex obovata Dwarf-shrubland Alliance
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This alliance occurs in the northern Chihuahuan Desert and Colorado Plateau from western Texas, south-central and northwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona. Climate is semi-arid to arid. Elevation ranges from 1530-1830 m. Stands are known from valley bottoms, alluvial flats, lower to upper hillslopes, often in a 'badlands' landscape. Soils are generally shallow, poorly developed, and alkaline. Textures range from fine sandy loam to silty clay loam and clay in New Mexico and Arizona. In western Texas, substrates are silt loams and clay soils that may be saline or gypseous. Parent materials include alluvium and colluvium derived from igneous or sedimentary materials such as basalt, shale, and clay. There is high cover of bare soil. Typically, areas have been severely degraded by erosion. The vegetation is characterized by a sparse to locally moderately dense dwarf-shrub layer (10-60% cover) that is dominated or codominated by Atriplex obovata. Shrub associates may include scattered Atriplex confertifolia, Ericameria nauseosa, Isocoma drummondii, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana, Opuntia spp., or Suaeda spp. The herbaceous layer ranges from moderately dense to absent, and is usually dominated by perennial grasses such as Sporobolus airoides. Other associated species may include Achnatherum hymenoides, Sporobolus cryptandrus, Pleuraphis jamesii (= Hilaria jamesii), Bouteloua gracilis, Elymus elymoides, and the scattered cacti Opuntia polyacantha and Opuntia imbricata. Where this alliance is known to occur in Texas, Suaeda mexicana and Coryphantha ramillosa are often present, and after rains, annuals such as Tidestromia carnosa may be locally abundant.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.19177.ATRIPLEXOBOVATA
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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