Name:
Salix geyeriana / Mesic Graminoids Shrubland
Reference:
Western Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
This is an important association in Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, and northwestern Wyoming. Stands of this association are often found in wide mountain valleys, cirques, and troughs, at elevations from about 1525 to 2745 m (5000-9000 feet) with narrow, meandering streams or braided rivers. The association mainly occurs on seasonally saturated or flooded sites such as streambanks, terraces, floodplains, abandoned meanders, spring-fed meadows, lake or reservoir shores, and occasionally alluvial gravel bars. Soils vary but are mostly silt to clay loams with organic/sedge peat horizons. An open canopy of tall, clumped <i>Salix geyeriana</i>, with occasionally intermixed <i>Salix boothii</i> (with <20% cover), characterizes this association. Other shrubs, including <i>Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Ribes</i> spp., <i>Rosa woodsii</i>, and low <i>Salix</i> spp., are scattered around the bases of taller <i>Salix</i> clumps. The herbaceous understory is dominated by a diverse mix of mesic graminoid species that always has greater total cover than the total cover of mesic forbs. In good-condition, mid- to late-seral stands, the most common graminoids are <i>Carex microptera, Carex pellita, Deschampsia caespitosa</i>, and occasionally <i>Carex nebrascensis</i>, but no single species consistently has high cover. Other graminoids with moderate cover and constancy include <i>Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex aquatilis, Carex praegracilis, Carex rostrata, Carex utriculata, Glyceria</i> spp., and <i>Juncus balticus</i>. <i>Poa pratensis</i> is present in nearly all stands, but its cover varies depending on the amount of grazing disturbance and site desiccation. Stands in poor condition need to be codominated by a mixture of native graminoids (not a single species such as <i>Deschampsia caespitosa</i>) with the introduced graminoids and forbs. The most common forb species are sometimes indicative of grazing disturbance (e.g., <i>Achillea millefolium, Geum macrophyllum, Iris missouriensis, Maianthemum stellatum, Potentilla gracilis, Thalictrum</i> spp., <i>Taraxacum officinale</i>, and <i>Trifolium</i> spp.).
Accession Code:
VB.CC.32585.CEGL001210
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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