Name:
Pinus edulis - Juniperus osteosperma / Artemisia nova Woodland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This Colorado Plateau association occurs in western and northern Colorado, eastern Utah and northeastern Arizona on the higher areas of local topographical features such as canyon rims, mesas, hills, ridgetops, and upper slopes. Sites are nearly level to moderately steep and tend toward northern aspects, although other directions are possible. Elevation ranges from 1772 to 2518 m (5800-8260 feet). The soils are variable and range from sandy loam to silt clay loam and sandy clay soil textures. Soils are typically shallow and rapidly drained. Parent materials are often sandstones or limestones but can also be eolian deposits or shale. The unvegetated surface is composed of litter, bare soil, bedrock, and large and small rocks. Cryptogams often have moderate to high cover. This woodland association ranges from a moderately dense to a more typically open tree canopy (10-60% cover) dominated by short evergreen trees 2-10 m tall. <i>Pinus edulis</i> and <i>Juniperus osteosperma</i> dominate the tree canopy and may form a sparse subcanopy 2-5 m tall where the upper canopy is taller. In most stands, <i>Pinus edulis</i> and <i>Juniperus osteosperma</i> each have between 3 and 35% canopy cover, although in some sparsely vegetated stands, they may have less. Scattered <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii </i>may be present at higher elevations. Shrubs provide low to moderate cover. The dwarf-shrub <i>Artemisia nova</i> is the most abundant shrub, usually with less than 20% cover (rarely up to 50%). Other shrubs include <i>Amelanchier utahensis, Artemisia tridentata, Cercocarpus montanus, Ephedra viridis, </i><i>Gutierrezia microcephala</i><i>, </i><i>Purshia stansburiana, </i><i>Purshia tridentata</i>, and <i>Opuntia</i> spp. A number of herbaceous species can be found across the range of this association, but any one stand usually has low to moderate diversity and less than 10% cover in aggregate. Common herbaceous species include the graminoids <i>Achnatherum hymenoides, </i><i>Bouteloua gracilis</i><i>, Carex</i> spp., <i>Elymus elymoides</i><i>, Koeleria macrantha</i>, and <i>Poa fendleriana</i> and forbs <i>Antennaria parvifolia, </i><i>Arabis</i> spp., <i>Hymenoxys richardsonii, </i><i>Petradoria pumila, Phlox</i> spp., and many others.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.31993.CEGL002331
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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