Name:
Artemisia filifolia Great Plains Sand Prairie Scrub Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance includes <i>Artemisia filifolia</i>-dominated shrublands occurring mostly in the western Great Plains from as far north as the Black Hills, south to the Trans-Pecos of western Texas and northern Chihuahuan Desert, extending northwest into the Colorado Plateau. Vegetation cover is sparse to moderately dense, with a shrub stratum approximately 1 m tall, dominated by <i>Artemisia filifolia</i>, interspersed with areas of bare substrate and scattered tall or midgrasses. Species composition varies with geography, precipitation, disturbance, and soil texture. Associated species may include <i>Andropogon hallii, Artemisia frigida, Bouteloua curtipendula, Bouteloua gracilis, Carex duriuscula, Calamovilfa gigantea, Calamovilfa longifolia, Calylophus serrulatus, Carex inops ssp. heliophila, Helianthus petiolaris, Hesperostipa comata, Heterotheca villosa var. villosa, Ipomoea leptophylla, Lathyrus polymorphus, Lygodesmia juncea, Opuntia</i> spp., <i>Penstemon buckleyi, Prosopis glandulosa, Prunus angustifolia, Psoralidium lanceolatum, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus giganteus, Sporobolus cryptandrus</i>, and <i>Yucca glauca</i>. Communities associated with gypsum dunes have many gypsophiles or gypsum endemics. Colorado Plateau shrub associates include <i>Ericameria nauseosa, Ephedra torreyana, Ephedra viridis, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Atriplex canescens</i>, and the graminoids <i>Muhlenbergia pungens, Sporobolus cryptandrus, Bouteloua eriopoda</i>, and <i>Achnatherum hymenoides</i>. Some examples found in Texas and Oklahoma may be dominated by <i>Quercus havardii</i>. Degraded examples of this alliance may be dominated by <i>Prunus angustifolia</i>. Some examples in Oklahoma and Texas may be codominated by <i>Quercus havardii</i>. These shrublands typically occur on flat, hummocky, or rolling terrain, as well as on partially stabilized dunes and sandsheets. Soils supporting these communities have low water retention and nutrient availability, and are typically sand or loamy sand, primarily of eolian origin, but include sand deposits derived from sandstone residuum and cinder deposits. Less xeric sites tend to be more grass-dominated. In western Kansas and eastern Colorado, this alliance is found downwind of major waterways where alluvial sand is blown. In Texas these shrublands occur over sandy soils in the Rolling and High Plains and on gypsum dunes in the Trans-Pecos. On the Colorado Plateau, stands occur on a variety of sites including pockets of sand below sandstone cliffs, dunes and sheets of sand or cinder, floodplain terraces and alluvial fans. Timing and amount of growing-season precipitation can greatly affect species abundance from year to year. Drought or overgrazing stands of this alliance will reduce vegetation cover and can allow the wind to cause blowouts or active dunes.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38109-{4F44D12C-413C-4032-A2C3-64E5DDB1B1D7}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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