Name:
Picea pungens / Mahonia repens Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
These forests occur at middle elevations of 2380 to 2740 m (7800-9000 feet) in mountains and plateaus of the central and southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau, with low-elevation sites often associated with drainages and seeps. These forests occur on a variety of aspects, on cool, gentle to very steep slopes and benches, sometimes in relatively mesic concave areas. Substrates are colluvium, residuum and less commonly alluvium. Soils are often well-drained, gravelly, sandy to clay loams. Surface rock is often moderately high, with litter/duff cover variable. These forests are characterized by the dominance or codominance of <i>Picea pungens</i> in the open to moderately dense forest canopy and usually represent a mesic phase of the mixed conifer forests of the southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau. Other conifers are usually present in these stands, depending upon geographic location, site moisture, and stand history. <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> is the most common associate, but others include <i>Abies lasiocarpa, Pinus ponderosa, Pinus flexilis, Pinus contorta</i> (northern stands only), and <i>Juniperus scopulorum</i>. <i>Populus tremuloides</i> is the only widespread deciduous associate. The diagnostic low-shrub layer usually has moderately dense cover and is dominated by the cold-deciduous species <i>Mahonia repens</i>, often with <i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi</i> and <i>Juniperus communis</i> present. Other shrub species present may include <i>Acer glabrum, Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana, Ceanothus velutinus, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, Paxistima myrsinites, Purshia tridentata, Quercus gambelii, Ribes cereum, Rosa woodsii, Shepherdia canadensis</i>, and <i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i>. The herbaceous layer is generally sparse, except along drainages, but is usually a diverse mixture of forbs and graminoids. Adjacent vegetation is usually <i>Pinus ponderosa - Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> forests at the upslope margin and herbaceous or woody riparian communities where this vegetation grades into streamside wetlands.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:29304-{3C8C5501-7A8D-480D-A8B1-150D9EBD5A95}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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