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Pinus ponderosa Wooded Tall Herbaceous Alliance | Western Ecology Working Group of...
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Name: Pinus ponderosa Wooded Tall Herbaceous Alliance Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: This alliance is found on the eastern side of the Continental Divide in the foothills of the Colorado Front Range. Topographic features include hogbacks, ridges, mesas and slopes. Slopes vary from gentle to somewhat steep, and aspects are often easterly, except at the higher elevations where they are southerly. Stands occupy the most xeric of the wooded sites in the eastern Front Range, a zone between grass- and shrub-dominated vegetation at lower elevations and more densely forested in more mesic and higher elevation areas. Soils are poorly developed, well-drained, very rocky and/or gravelly, loam or sandy loam in texture, and with much exposed surface rock. Vegetation included in this alliance is characterized by Pinus ponderosa, which forms an open tree layer (10-30% cover). The understory is composed of broad-leaved deciduous shrubs, succulents, suffrutescents and graminoids. Cercocarpus montanus dominates the shrub layer, with Rhus trilobata always present in lower abundance. Succulent species, such as Opuntia polyacantha, Echinocereus viridiflorus, and Yucca glauca, and suffrutescent species, such as Artemisia frigida, Artemisia ludoviciana, and Eriogonum umbellatum, are also consistently present. The moderately dense graminoid layer is dominated by perennial bunch grasses. Andropogon gerardii is always present to codominant. Other important species include Elymus albicans (= Elymus lanceolatus ssp. albicans), Schizachyrium scoparium, Hesperostipa comata (= Stipa comata), Bouteloua hirsuta, and Bouteloua curtipendula. Diagnostic of this alliance is the open tree canopy of Pinus ponderosa with a moderately dense graminoid layer dominated by medium-tall to tall bunch grasses.  Accession Code: VB.CC.23339.PINUSPONDEROSAW Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 01-May-2019
	status: accepted This Community's Level: Alliance This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Scientific: Pinus ponderosa Wooded Tall Herbaceous Alliance   Translated: Ponderosa Pine Wooded Tall Herbaceous Alliance   UID: HIGHER_CLASS_UNIT.2.124562 NatureServe Explorer   Code: A.1488