Login | Datasets | Logout
 

View Community Concepts - Detail

Pinus ponderosa / Quercus gambelii / Carex inops ssp. heliophila Woodland | NatureServe Biotics 2019
  click to update datacart
Name: Pinus ponderosa / Quercus gambelii / Carex inops ssp. heliophila Woodland
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This coniferous woodland is known from Bandelier National Monument in north-central New Mexico and likely occurs on mesic sites elsewhere in the southern Rocky Mountains. Sites vary from mesatops and shoulders with low to moderate slopes (6-25%) to steep canyon slopes (50-65%); aspects vary from northwest through northeast at lower elevations to southerly on higher sites. Soils vary and are mapped as poorly-developed and rocky Entisols or Inceptisols derived from rhyolitic colluvium; fine-textured Alfisols and loamy Mollisols from rhyolite, dacite, or pumice slope alluvium; or simply as rock outcrop. The ground surface is characterized by scattered bunchgrasses and sedges intermixed with litter, and some sites are very rocky. Elevation ranges from 1980 to 2652 m (6500-8700 feet). Conifer canopy cover ranges from open (25%) to closed (&gt;60%). The overstory is dominated by <i>Pinus ponderosa</i> with seedlings and saplings present in the understory. <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> can also be present in the canopy or as seedlings and saplings, but it is clearly subordinate, and other conifers are rare. The understory of this association is characteristically shrubby with <i>Quercus gambelii</i> well-represented to abundant as shrubs or mature trees. <i>Robinia neomexicana</i> and <i>Rosa woodsii</i> can also be abundant. The herbaceous layer is rich in species but variable in cover. Diagnostic and often abundant graminoids include <i>Carex inops ssp. heliophila</i> and other deer sedges (<i>Carex occidentalis, Carex rossii</i>, and <i>Carex wootonii</i>). Additional graminoids may include <i>Elymus elymoides, Koeleria macrantha, Muhlenbergia montana</i>, and <i>Poa fendleriana</i>. Forb composition, while diverse, is variable and usually less than 5% total cover. The most frequent and abundant forb species include <i>Achillea millefolium, Antennaria parvifolia, Artemisia carruthii, Artemisia ludoviciana, Erigeron subtrinervis, Heterotheca villosa, Lithospermum multiflorum</i>, and <i>Penstemon barbatus</i>. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:34132-{DF84918F-D512-41D1-B455-DE69D18435EC}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 30-Mar-2009 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.820834 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: CEGL005372
  Translated: Ponderosa Pine / Gambel Oak / Sun Sedge Woodland
  Scientific: Pinus ponderosa / Quercus gambelii / Carex inops ssp. heliophila Woodland
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(similar) Pinus ponderosa / Quercus gambelii / Carex inops ssp. heliophila Woodland