Name:
Abies lasiocarpa - Picea engelmannii Rocky Mountain Dry-Mesic Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance is characterized by forests and woodlands with broad distributions in the upper montane or subalpine zone throughout the southern, central and northern Rocky Mountains and eastern Cascades dominated by <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> and/or <i>Picea engelmannii</i>. Canopies may be open to closed. Common associated conifers can include <i>Abies concolor, Larix occidentalis, Picea pungens, Pinus albicaulis, Pinus aristata, Pinus contorta, Pinus flexilis, Pinus strobiformis</i>, and <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>. Understories are highly variable across the range of this alliance and can be dominated by grasses, dry sedges, mesic forbs or shrubs. Common shrub species can include <i>Acer glabrum, Amelanchier alnifolia, Jamesia americana, Juniperus communis, Lonicera utahensis, Mahonia repens, Paxistima myrsinites, Physocarpus monogynus, Ribes montigenum, Ribes pinetorum, Rosa woodsii, Salix scouleriana, Shepherdia canadensis, Spiraea betulifolia, Symphoricarpos oreophilus, Vaccinium myrtillus</i>, and <i>Vaccinium scoparium</i>. Herbaceous layers may be forb-dominated as well. Species may include <i>Arnica cordifolia, Arnica latifolia, Astragalus miser, Chamerion angustifolium, Erigeron eximius, Eucephalus engelmannii, Frasera speciosa, Goodyera repens, Orthilia secunda, Pedicularis racemosa, Polemonium pulcherrimum</i>, and <i>Solidago multiradiata</i>. The most common graminoids include <i>Carex geyeri, Carex rossii, Luzula parviflora</i>, and <i>Poa nervosa</i>. This alliance occurs above the warmer and drier montane forests of the West, which are typically mixed-coniferous forests, but may extend down into the montane zone where there is cold-air drainage. Parent materials and soils are variable. Sites include gentle to very steep mountain slopes, ridgetops, plateaus, basins, alluvial terraces and benches. All aspects are represented, but northerly and easterly aspects predominate, and southerly aspects are found only at higher elevations. Soils are variable, but often gravelly or rocky, relatively shallow with thick duff layers and sometimes high moss or lichen cover.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38863-{A9E50928-DE5D-4A0F-873B-BF1CD42FA571}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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