Name:
Atriplex confertifolia / Achnatherum hymenoides Shrubland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This plant association is widely scattered within the Atriplex confertifolia zone of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon, and is also purported to occur in California, Utah, and Wyoming. The association is typically found on well-drained, sediment-derived soils with parent materials such as alluvial fans, volcanic tuff, and oil shale. Soils include rocky and gravelly sandy loams and may have an argillic horizon. Low-growing Atriplex confertifolia is the dominant shrub, usually with up to 15% cover, though other shrubs, including Picrothamnus desertorum (= Artemisia spinescens), Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis, Grayia spinosa, and Sarcobatus vermiculatus, may also be present in low amounts. In high-quality, ungrazed stands of Achnatherum hymenoides (with up to 20% cover) dominates the otherwise sparse herbaceous understory. Lesser amounts of other perennial grasses, including Elymus elymoides, Hesperostipa comata, and Poa secunda, are often present. The most common forbs, all with low cover, include Eriogonum spp., Phlox hoodii, Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia, Thelypodium flexuosum, and Townsendia florifera. Stands degraded by excessive livestock grazing have abundant Bromus tectorum in the understory and higher total herbaceous cover.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.19248.ATRIPLEXCONFERT
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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