Name:
Salix geyeriana / Mesic Forbs Wet Shrubland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The association is widely distributed, but infrequently sampled, in the northern central and southern Rocky Mountains at mid to high elevations of about 1122 to over 3019 m (3680-9900 feet). This association usually occurs in wide, low-gradient valley bottoms with sinuous streams or large rivers, but it is also known from narrower, slightly steeper valleys of headwater creeks. Sites supporting this association include terraces and streambanks (at or much higher than mean high water), as well as the drier margins of wetland floodplains. Soils are highly stratified alluvium and range from well-drained sandy loams and clay loams, with large amounts of coarse fragments intermixed, to highly organic and poorly drained, silty clay loams with mottling. The association is clearly dominated by clumps of 1.5- to 2.5-m tall <i>Salix geyeriana</i> (usually 60-90% cover) with <i>Salix boothii</i> sometimes also present with low to moderate cover. Other willows, such as <i>Salix drummondiana</i>, low shrubs (especially <i>Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Ericameria parryi, Ribes inerme, Ribes lacustre</i>, and/or <i>Rosa woodsii</i>), and trees occasionally occur with low to moderate cover in stands. There is a diverse mixture of mesic forbs (with cover greater than that of mesic graminoids) in the understory, forming multiple height layers. No single species has consistently high cover or constancy. The most common and widespread forbs are <i>Aconitum columbianum, Equisetum arvense, Fragaria virginiana, Geranium</i> spp., <i>Geum macrophyllum, Maianthemum stellatum, Pedicularis groenlandica, Swertia perennis</i>, and <i>Symphyotrichum foliaceum</i>. Other tall forb species, sometimes with moderate cover but lower constancy, include <i>Angelica arguta, Heracleum maximum, Mertensia</i> spp., <i>Polemonium occidentale, Potentilla gracilis, Thalictrum</i> spp., and <i>Urtica dioica</i>. The graminoid layer is poorly developed, tending to be dominated by exotic species with low cover (e.g., <i>Agrostis gigantea, Agrostis stolonifera, Poa pratensis</i>, and <i>Phleum pratense</i>), but also includes native graminoids (most commonly <i>Bromus ciliatus, Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex microptera, Carex utriculata</i>, or <i>Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis</i>).
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:31574-{F47EEABD-B01F-42E1-BD52-786FFAC84246}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
11
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