Name:
Salix geyeriana / Mesic Forbs Shrubland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
The association is widely distributed, but infrequently sampled, in the northern and central Rocky Mountains at mid to high elevations of about 1122 to over 3019 m (3680-9900 feet). This association usually occurs in wide, low-gradient valley bottoms with sinuous streams or large rivers, but it is also known from narrower, slightly steeper valleys of headwater creeks. Sites supporting this association include terraces and streambanks (at or much higher than mean high water), as well as the drier margins of wetland floodplains. Soils are well-drained sandy loams and clay loams, with large amounts of coarse fragments intermixed, overlaying alluvium. The association is clearly dominated by clumps of 1.5- to 2.5-m tall Salix geyeriana (usually 60-90% cover) with Salix boothii sometimes also present with low to moderate cover. Other willows, such as Salix drummondiana, low shrubs Ribes inerme and/or Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, and trees occasionally occur with low to moderate cover in stands. There is a diverse mixture of mesic forbs (with cover greater than that of mesic graminoids) in the understory, forming multiple height layers. No single species has consistently high cover or constancy. The most common and widespread forbs are Aconitum columbianum, Equisetum arvense, Fragaria virginiana, Geranium spp., Geum macrophyllum, Maianthemum stellatum, and Symphyotrichum foliaceum. Other tall forb species, sometimes with moderate cover but lower constancy, include Angelica arguta, Heracleum maximum, Mertensia spp., Polemonium occidentale, Potentilla gracilis, Thalictrum spp., and Urtica dioica. The graminoid layer is poorly developed, tending to be dominated by exotic species with low cover (e.g., Agrostis stolonifera, Poa pratensis, and Phleum pratense), but also includes native graminoids (most commonly Carex microptera).
Accession Code:
VB.CC.24704.SALIXGEYERIANAM
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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