Name:
Trifolium parryi Alpine Snowbed
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This vegetation association has been described from the alpine meadows and fell-field turfs of the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and may extend into Wyoming. Stands are generally found in the upper alpine zone on broad, flat to gently sloping (0-25%) ridges that are covered with moderate to heavy snow during the winter, with southeasterly to southwesterly or northerly aspects. Sites are generally early-melting snowbeds but include later-melting snowbeds on southerly aspects. Substrates are variable and range from deep to shallow, rocky loam and sandy loam soils derived from granite or other igneous or metamorphic rock. Rocks are often exposed at the ground surface. There is usually moderate cover of bare ground and litter (25-50% cover). Mosses and lichens are often present. The vegetation is characterized by an open to dense (to 90% cover) herbaceous layer dominated by <i>Trifolium parryi</i> (>25% cover) and combination of cushion plants, upright forbs and graminoids. Associated forbs species include <i>Artemisia norvegica, Artemisia scopulorum, Caltha leptosepala, Castilleja occidentalis, Erigeron melanocephalus, Erigeron simplex, Geum rossii, Minuartia biflora, Oreoxis bakeri, Podistera eastwoodiae, Polygonum bistortoides, Potentilla diversifolia, Ranunculus adoneus, Silene acaulis</i>, and <i>Sibbaldia procumbens</i>. Graminoids are codominant in some stands. <i>Carex albonigra, Carex illota, Carex nardina, Carex phaeocephala, Carex scopulorum, Deschampsia cespitosa, Festuca brachyphylla</i>, and <i>Trisetum spicatum</i> are the most common graminoids. Some stands have an open dwarf-shrub layer of <i>Salix petrophila, Dryas octopetala ssp. hookeriana, Artemisia norvegica</i>, or <i>Vaccinium</i> spp. <i>Selaginella densa</i> is present to abundant in many stands. Diagnostic of this snowbed association is the dominance of <i>Trifolium parryi</i> in the herbaceous layer.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:30845-{1834ED82-3DDF-490E-B1C0-865565271A9A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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