Name:
Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata - Artemisia tridentata ssp. xericensis Dry Steppe & Shrubland Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This semi-arid alliance occurs throughout much of the Intermountain West, especially in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. Stands in have a mixed shrub canopy dominated by <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata</i> or <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. xericensis</i>. Other shrubs have low cover, except species that increase with disturbance such as <i>Gutierrezia sarothrae, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus</i>, and <i>Ericameria nauseosa</i>. Characteristic dry shrubland understory species include <i>Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum lettermanii, Bouteloua gracilis, Distichlis spicata, Pascopyrum smithii, Pleuraphis jamesii, Poa secunda, Sporobolus airoides</i>, and <i>Sporobolus cryptandrus</i>. The non-native, invasive annual grass <i>Bromus tectorum</i> may be present and dominant in disturbed stands. Sites supporting this alliance include sloping fans, footslopes, rolling hills, swales, draws, and deep, well-drained alluvial bottomlands. Soils are deep, fine- to medium-textured alluvial soils with some source of subirrigation during the summer season, but moderately deep upland soils with ample moisture storage also support these shrublands. Some stands occur on deep, sandy soils, or soils that are highly calcareous.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38481-{36160480-277B-4C02-945D-9B01377CA5E1}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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