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A.825 | EcoArt 2002
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Name: A.825
Reference: EcoArt 2002
Description: This alliance occurs throughout the Intermountain West at elevations from 500-3000 m. These shrublands occur over a broad range of landforms and microhabitats including stabilized dunes in Idaho and steep exposed mountain slopes with southerly aspects on the eastern side of the Front Range. These sites are typically too xeric to support extensions of the surrounding coniferous forests. These soils are poorly developed and rocky, with loamy and sandy textures. Shrublands included in this alliance are characterized by a ~Purshia tridentata$-dominated shrub canopy, often with ~Artemisia tridentata$. Other important shrubs include ~Artemisia frigida, Ericameria nauseosa (= Chrysothamnus nauseosus), Prunus virginiana, Ribes cereum$, and ~Arctostaphylos uva-ursi$. Scattered trees may form an emergent layer where ~Purshia tridentata$ shrublands grade into adjacent woodlands or forests. Typical tree associates include ~Pinus ponderosa, Pinus washoensis, Pinus jeffreyi, Juniperus occidentalis, Juniperus osteosperma, Juniperus scopulorum, Yucca brevifolia, Quercus garryana, Populus tremuloides$, and ~Cercocarpus ledifolius$. The herbaceous layer is usually dominated by perennial bunch grasses, including ~Muhlenbergia montana, Elymus lanceolatus, Hesperostipa comata (= Stipa comata), Poa secunda (= Poa sandbergii), Koeleria macrantha$, and ~Achnatherum hymenoides (= Oryzopsis hymenoides)$. Some stands may have a well-developed forb component composed of ~Achillea millefolium, Balsamorhiza sagittata, Brodiaea$ spp., and ~Erigeron corymbosus$. Mosses and lichens are important in some stands. Diagnostic of this alliance is the dominance of ~Purshia tridentata$ in a shrub layer that is greater than 25% on average. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.2454.A825
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 17-Mar-2005
     
  • status: accepted
  • Community's Parent: III.A.4.N.a
  • This Community's Level: Alliance
  • This Community's Children: [none]
Names:   Scientific: PURSHIA TRIDENTATA SHRUBLAND ALLIANCE
  Code: A.825
  Common: Bitterbrush Shrubland Alliance
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(undetermined) Purshia tridentata Shrubland Alliance