Login | Datasets | Logout
Jump to... Home PLOT search PLANT search COMMUNITY search Simple search Manage datasets Tutorial About FAQ ------- Site map VegBranch Data dictionary ERD

stdcommconcept3223932239

View Community Concepts - Detail

Pinus albicaulis - Abies lasiocarpa / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Woodland | Western Ecology Working Group of...
click to update datacart
Name: Pinus albicaulis - Abies lasiocarpa / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Woodland Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: This minor small- to large-patch community is found primarily in mid to upper subalpine habitats throughout the Nez Perce and Clearwater national forests, north into Idaho's panhandle and west into west-central Montana. East of the Continental Divide it extends northward to the Canadian Rockies of southwestern Alberta. Its distribution ranges in elevation from 1495 to 2195 m (4900-7200 feet). The lower elevation occurrences are associated with frost-pocket conditions. It usually occupies neutral to collecting positions from toeslopes to ridge shoulders and including ridgetops; it can be found on well-drained benches in cold-air drainages. Degree of slope is highly variable, but cold aspects (from northeast- through east-facing) are predominant. Parent materials are various, from intrusive volcanics of the Idaho Batholith to extrusive volcanics (andesite and basalt) to various sedimentary and metamorphic species, including quartzite, argillite, siltstone, sandstone and schist. Soils are acidic, well-drained, and soil texture is usually on the finer end of the spectrum (loams and silt loams being common). Exposed rock and soil are generally less than 5%, and the rock content in the profile often exceeds 5%, increasing markedly with depth. The overstory is usually an open canopy (less than 50% cover) dominated by a variable mix of <i>Abies lasiocarpa, Picea engelmannii, Pinus contorta</i>, and the indicator species <i>Pinus albicaulis</i>, which must have at least 5% cover for this type to be recognized as distinctive from ~<i>Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax</i> Forest (CEGL005895)$$ or the <i>Pinus contorta</i>-dominated version of this community. The undergrowth may be quite dense with a layer of short <i>Menziesia ferruginea</i> overtopping tussocks of <i>Xerophyllum tenax</i>. <i>Vaccinium membranaceum</i> is highly constant and though subordinate in height (and usually in cover) to <i>Menziesia</i> is still regarded a dominant short shrub. The only dwarf-shrub consistently present, <i>Vaccinium scoparium</i>, occurs as scattered patches; if present with greater than 15% cover, then another association is indicated. The combined cover of these four species often constitutes a continuous undulating layer. <i>Spiraea betulifolia</i> and <i>Lonicera utahensis</i> are consistently scattered in the short-shrub layer. There are no graminoids regularly present. Other than the abundance of the diagnostic <i>Xerophyllum tenax</i>, the forb layer has low cover and is comparatively depauperate with only <i>Arnica latifolia, Anemone piperi, Goodyera oblongifolia, Orthilia secunda (= Pyrola secunda)</i>, and <i>Viola orbiculata</i> having a consistent presence. On moister sites and where the shrub layer is not overwhelming, <i>Valeriana sitchensis</i> and/or <i>Thalictrum occidentale</i> are consistently present with more than 5% cover.  Accession Code: VB.CC.32239.CEGL005836 Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 17-Nov-2014 to: 01-May-2019
	status: accepted This Community's Level: association This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.730873 NatureServe Explorer   Translated: Whitebark Pine - Subalpine Fir / Rusty Menziesia / Common Beargrass Woodland   Scientific: Pinus albicaulis - Abies lasiocarpa / Menziesia ferruginea / Xerophyllum tenax Woodland   Code: CEGL005836