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Larrea tridentata - Ambrosia dumosa - (Echinocactus polycephalus, Opuntia basilaris) Desert Shrubland | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Larrea tridentata - Ambrosia dumosa - (Echinocactus polycephalus, Opuntia basilaris) Desert Shrubland
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This association is currently described only from the Mojave Desert Network. Additional global information will be added as it becomes available. It is intermittent in the Mojave Desert in both Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve in California. It was sampled along lower to upper bajadas from the Cottonwood Mountains, Last Chance Range, and Kelso Mountains. It is found at low to upper elevations (ranging from approximately 350 to 1350 m and averaging 960 m). It is found on variable slope positions, with gentle to somewhat steep slopes (3-24°), on variable aspects. Soils include fine-textured clay and sandy loams as well as loamy sand and are derived from a variety of substrates such as alluvium and sandstone. Vegetation forms an open shrub canopy in which the shrub cover ranges from 2 to 17%. An emergent tree layer is absent, and the herb understory is variable and ranges from 0 to 20% cover. <i>Larrea tridentata</i> is codominant in the shrub canopy with <i>Ambrosia dumosa</i> along with other characteristic shrubs <i>Cylindropuntia echinocarpa, Echinocactus polycephalus</i>, and <i>Opuntia basilaris</i>. Commonly associated herbs include <i>Chaenactis carphoclinia, Eriogonum inflatum, Eriogonum</i> spp., and <i>Pectocarya recurvata</i>. Nonvascular plants include cryptogamic crust. The cacti may be as abundant as the <i>Larrea tridentata</i> and <i>Ambrosia dumosa</i>, often signifying rocky and gravelly bajadas that are adjacent to mountain ranges, often the older portions of bajadas that may be dissected by episodic washes. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:37485-{0256FC16-17C6-40B3-B131-246966029FAB}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 20-Jul-2018 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.972147
  Code: CEPP006718
  Translated: Creosotebush - Burrobush - (Cottontop Cactus, Beavertail Prickly-pear) Desert Shrubland
  Scientific: Larrea tridentata - Ambrosia dumosa - (Echinocactus polycephalus, Opuntia basilaris) Desert Shrubland