Name:
Eriogonum brevicaule - Cushion Plants Sparse Vegetation
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This association is only known from Fossil Butte National Monument in southwestern Wyoming. It is a sparse cushion plant community that occupies shallow soils over limestone-derived gravel and bedrock on hillslopes, badland formations, buttes, and ridges. The sites are gentle to steep (3- to 42-degree slopes), occur between 2041 and 2362 m elevation, and are oriented to the south, southwest or west. The unvegetated surface has moderate to high exposure of bare soil, low to moderate cover of small rocks, low cover of large rocks, and sparse cover of litter and downed wood. The vegetation is characterized by sparse cover of the cushion plant <i>Eriogonum brevicaule</i> (<1-10% cover) with a slightly different composition of cushion plants and other xeric species in each stand. Total vegetation cover ranges from less than 1 to 34% in these sparsely to moderately vegetated stands. Scattered short- and dwarf-shrubs may be present, such as <i>Artemisia frigida, Atriplex confertifolia, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, Artemisia arbuscula ssp. longiloba</i>, and <i>Krascheninnikovia lanata</i>. The herbaceous layer is dominated by cushion plants with sparse cover of grasses such as <i>Poa secunda, Elymus lanceolatus</i>, and <i>Pseudoroegneria spicata</i>. Other common forbs may include <i>Antennaria dimorpha, Astragalus spatulatus, Astragalus jejunus, Astragalus vexilliflexus, Cryptantha caespitosa, Erigeron nanus, Eriogonum umbellatum, Minuartia nuttallii (= Arenaria nuttallii), Packera cana (= Senecio canus), Phlox hoodii, Physaria acutifolia, Pteryxia terebinthina (= Cymopterus terebinthinus), Physaria condensata, Stenotus acaulis</i>, and <i>Trifolium gymnocarpon</i>.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.31803.CEGL005319
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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