Name:
Calliandra eriophylla / Mixed Desert Grasses Shrubland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This shrubland occurs in southern Arizona, typically on gentle to moderate slopes of ridges and foothills extending out into basins. Plot data from Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge indicate an elevational range of 1090-1145 m (3590-3750 feet) on well-drained sandy loam. Substrates are often rocky with 10-45% surface rock. The vegetation is characterized by a moderately dense (20-60% cover) short-shrub canopy strongly dominated by <i>Calliandra eriophylla</i> with an open to dense (10-95% cover) herbaceous layer dominated by mixed perennial graminoids. Characteristic species are <i>Aristida</i> spp., <i>Bouteloua chondrosioides, Bouteloua curtipendula, Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua rothrockii, Chloris virgata, Digitaria californica</i>, and <i>Setaria</i> spp. Other common species include <i>Allionia incarnata, Aristida ternipes, Boerhavia erecta, Urochloa arizonica (= Brachiaria arizonica), Chamaesyce florida, Chamaesyce hyssopifolia, Ferocactus wislizeni, Gutierrezia</i> spp., <i>Ipomoea hederacea, Isocoma tenuisecta, Kallstroemia grandiflora, Krameria erecta, Opuntia engelmannii, Opuntia spinosior</i>, and <i>Talinum aurantiacum</i>. Diagnostic of this shrubland association is the strong dominance of <i>Calliandra eriophylla</i> in the shrub layer (20% or more cover) along with a mixed perennial graminoid layer that is not codominated by <i>Eragrostis lehmanniana</i> and that has less 25% cover and less than a third of the total perennial graminoid cover of that introduced grass. Other shrubs may be present, such as <i>Prosopis velutina, Dasylirion wheeleri</i>, and <i>Fouquieria splendens</i>, with low cover (<10%).
Accession Code:
VB.CC.31794.CEGL005349
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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