Name:
Betula occidentalis / Cornus sericea Wet Shrubland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This is a wide-ranging but locally limited riparian association found from the Great Basin and central Utah cordillera, north to the Columbia Basin and northern Rocky Mountains, as far south as northern California, and east to Montana, the Black Hills of South Dakota and the southern Rocky Mountains in Wyoming at elevations ranging from about 610 to 2288 m (2000-7500 feet). It occurs on gently sloping, often undulating, streambanks and terraces of low- to high-gradient perennial or intermittent, spring-fed streams and rivers. Stands sometimes occur within the flood-prone zone, although water tables are typically deep during the growing season. Soils are alluvial and textures are coarse to fine, ranging from loamy skeletal and fine-loamy over sandy-skeletal, to coarse-loamy. <i>Betula occidentalis</i>, averaging 5 to 6 m tall, clearly dominates the tall-shrub overstory, usually with over 30% cover. The understory is characterized by an open to dense tall-shrub layer dominated by <i>Cornus sericea</i> with 15-90% cover. <i>Alnus incana, Rosa woodsii</i>, and tall <i>Salix</i> spp., are frequently present with up to 20% cover each. At low elevations in southwestern Idaho and eastern Washington, <i>Philadelphus lewisii, Symphoricarpos albus</i>, and/or <i>Toxicodendron rydbergii</i> are sometimes present with less than 10% cover each. The cover of the herbaceous layer varies inversely with that of the shrub layer. Consistently present herbaceous species include <i>Elymus glaucus, Equisetum</i> spp., <i>Galium</i> spp., <i>Maianthemum stellatum, Poa pratensis</i>, and <i>Urtica dioica</i>, all with low cover.<br /><br />The type is also known from the Upper Rio Grande watershed in northern New Mexico at elevations around 2400 m (7875 feet) along montane streams with gradients near 1.5%. Soils have been reported as coarse-loamy Aeric Fluvaquents. It is characterized by dense thickets of short deciduous shrubs codominated by <i>Betula occidentalis</i> and <i>Cornus sericea ssp. sericea</i>. A diverse number of shrub species can also be present, including <i>Acer glabrum, Amelanchier utahensis, Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia, Rosa woodsii, Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus, Rubus parviflorus</i>, and <i>Ribes americanum</i>. Like alders and willows that are common at this elevation, these river birch communities overhang streambanks and can be thicket-forming and quite shrubby. The herbaceous understory is represented by scattered grasses and forbs. The most common native wetland species are <i>Carex microptera, Carex rostrata, Aconitum columbianum, Argentina anserina, Equisetum laevigatum</i>, and <i>Mentha arvensis</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:30070-{F8B43B3D-DB69-44AE-8441-E2C0374B974F}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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