Login | Datasets | Logout
 

View Community Concepts - Detail

Pseudotsuga menziesii / Acer glabrum Forest | NatureServe Biotics 2019
  click to update datacart
Name: Pseudotsuga menziesii / Acer glabrum Forest
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This montane forest association occurs in the montane zone in the southern, central and northern Rocky Mountains. Elevations vary from 1465 to 2654 m (4800-8700 feet). Sites are cool and moist, generally occurring on northern or eastern aspects, on steep, mid to lower slopes, and ravines or stream bottoms where cold-air drainage is a factor. Substrates are variable and may be gravelly or not, with soil texture ranging from sandy loam to clay derived from colluvium. The vegetation is characterized by a <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>-dominated tree canopy with <i>Acer glabrum</i> dominating or codominating the understory. The evergreen needle-leaved tree canopy is generally moderately dense to dense (50-80% cover). Mature seral tree species such as <i>Pinus contorta, Pinus flexilis, Pinus ponderosa, Larix occidentalis, Populus angustifolia</i>, or <i>Populus tremuloides</i> may be present to codominant. <i>Abies concolor</i> is typically absent. The tall-shrub layer is open (patchy) to moderately dense and dominated or codominated by <i>Acer glabrum</i> with other tall shrubs such as <i>Amelanchier alnifolia, Cornus sericea, Quercus gambelii, Prunus virginiana, Sorbus scopulina, Spiraea betulifolia</i>, or <i>Salix scouleriana</i>. An open to moderately dense short-shrub layer is usually present and often dominated by <i>Physocarpus malvaceus</i> with other species such as <i>Lonicera utahensis, Mahonia repens, Paxistima myrsinites, Rosa</i> spp., <i>Ribes cereum, Symphoricarpos albus</i>, or <i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i>. The vine <i>Clematis columbiana</i> may also be present in small amounts. In some stands the tall- and short-shrub layers are not distinct. Herbaceous layer generally has low cover and is composed of diverse forbs with graminoids present to codominant. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:29327-{A3557C53-43A7-4FE7-9038-B7B92DE9E21F}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 1
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 05-Jan-2007 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688567 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: CEGL000418
  Translated: Douglas-fir / Rocky Mountain Maple Forest
  Scientific: Pseudotsuga menziesii / Acer glabrum Forest
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(similar) CEGL000418
(similar) Pseudotsuga menziesii / Acer glabrum Forest
(similar) Pseudotsuga menziesii / Acer glabrum Forest