Name:
Abies concolor Southern Rocky Mountain Mesic Forest & Woodland Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
Forests and woodlands included in this alliance consist of stands dominated by <i>Abies concolor</i> or codominated by <i>Populus tremuloides</i> or <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>. They occur in mountain environments from the southern and central Rocky Mountains and east to the Wyoming basins. In general, these mixed conifer forests have a moderately dense to closed canopy (>60%) with <i>Abies concolor</i> successfully reproducing and typically codominant in the tree canopy. The most common codominant canopy species include <i>Populus tremuloides</i> or <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>. Occasionally these stands occur as woodlands with as little as 10% total canopy cover. Other common canopy associates include <i>Picea pungens, Pinus flexilis, Pinus ponderosa</i>, and <i>Pinus strobiformis</i>. Understories may be shrub-, forb- or graminoid-dominated. The most common dominant shrubs include <i>Acer glabrum, Acer grandidentatum, Holodiscus dumosus, Jamesia americana, Juglans major, Physocarpus malvaceus, Quercus gambelii</i>, and <i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i>. Common herbaceous dominants include <i>Erigeron eximius, Lathyrus lanszwertii var. leucanthus, Osmorhiza berteroi, Poa pratensis</i>, and <i>Thalictrum fendleri</i>. These forests occupy a variety of topo-edaphic positions, such as lower and middle slopes of ravines, upper slopes at higher elevations, along stream terraces, ridgetops, and north- and east-facing slopes that burn somewhat infrequently. Parent materials and soils are highly variable and nondefinitive for these forests. Elevations range from 1800-3000 m.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38656-{A7B8C919-1CD1-4425-BCBF-82C4DEEEB98A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
|
