Name:
Artemisia tridentata - Mixed Shrub Dry Steppe & Shrubland Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
Stands in this alliance have a mixed shrub canopy codominated by <i>Artemisia tridentata</i> with dry-site shrub species such as <i>Atriplex canescens, Atriplex confertifolia, Ephedra aspera, Ephedra viridis, Ephedra nevadensis, Grayia spinosa, Sarcobatus vermiculatus</i>, or <i>Tetradymia canescens</i> present to codominant. The sparse to moderately dense herbaceous layer is dominated by perennial graminoids with lower cover of sometimes diverse forbs characteristic of semi-arid upland sites. Characteristic dry-site understory species include <i>Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum speciosum, Bouteloua gracilis, Bromus tectorum, Elymus elymoides, Elymus lanceolatus, Hesperostipa comata, Leymus cinereus, Opuntia polyacantha, Phlox hoodii, Pleuraphis jamesii, Poa fendleriana, Poa secunda, Sphaeralcea coccinea</i>, and <i>Sporobolus cryptandrus</i>. This dry-site shrubland alliance is distributed throughout the central and southern interior western U.S., especially in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau regions. Stands occur on flat to steeply sloping upland sites, on a wide variety of landform positions such as alluvial fans and plains, plateaus, mesas and foothills. Soil texture is loamy sand, loam, sandy loam, or clay loam, and there is often a significant amount of coarse fragments in the soil profile.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38485-{9D395623-F11A-452A-A002-15BA400348AA}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
|
