Name:
Fouquieria splendens - Calliandra eriophylla - Parthenium incanum Desert Scrub Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This desert scrub alliance is reported form the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts. Stands have an open shrub layer dominated by diagnostic shrub <i>Fouquieria splendens</i> often with low cover or without typically dominant diagnostic desert shrubs such as <i>Atriplex canescens, Acacia</i> spp., <i>Larrea tridentata, Parkinsonia microphylla, Prosopis glandulosa</i>, and <i>Prosopis velutina</i>. Other frequent shrubs include <i>Calliandra eriophylla, Dasylirion wheeleri, Krameria erecta</i>, and <i>Mimosa dysocarpa</i>, and cacti such as <i>Echinocereus triglochidiatus, Mammillaria grahamii, Cylindropuntia imbricata, Opuntia engelmannii, Opuntia phaeacantha</i>, and <i>Cylindropuntia versicolor</i>. In the Chihuahuan Desert, shrub associates include <i>Aloysia wrightii, Cercocarpus montanus</i> (higher elevation), <i>Dalea formosa</i>, and <i>Parthenium incanum</i>. A typically sparse to moderately dense herbaceous layer may be present and characterized by <i>Aristida ternipes, Bothriochloa barbinodis, Bouteloua chondrosioides, Bouteloua curtipendula, Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua ramosa, Bouteloua repens, Setaria macrostachya</i>, and <i>Tridens muticus</i>. Other common species include <i>Evolvulus arizonicus, Gutierrezia microcephala, Janusia gracilis, Petrophytum caespitosum</i>, and <i>Phemeranthus aurantiacus</i>. These open desert shrublands occur on piedmont, foothills and mountain canyons usually occur below 1525 m elevation, but extend up to 2000 m elevation, usually above the <i>Larrea tridentata</i>-dominated desert scrub plains, and grading into the semi-desert grasslands above. It is found on various desert habitats, often in areas with rock outcroppings, boulders, and loose rocks. Soils are shallow, lithic, coarse-textured loams or clay loams. Parent materials include limestone and rhyolite. Ground cover is dominated by gravel and rock.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38455-{386D9E97-801C-4F22-AE27-EE35751885C7}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
|
