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Andropogon gerardii - Sorghastrum nutans Mixedgrass Western Plains Grassland Alliance | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Andropogon gerardii - Sorghastrum nutans Mixedgrass Western Plains Grassland Alliance
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This alliance is found in the western Great Plains from central North Dakota west to eastern Montana and south to northeastern New Mexico. The vegetation is characterized by a mix of tall and mid grasses within a mixedgrass landscape. <i>Andropogon gerardii, Bouteloua curtipendula, Sorghastrum nutans</i>, and <i>Schizachyrium scoparium</i> are common through most of the range. <i>Pascopyrum smithii, Panicum virgatum</i>, and <i>Sporobolus heterolepis</i> are often present to abundant. Through the broad range of this alliance, other grasses can be locally common, including <i>Hesperostipa spartea</i> and <i>Festuca idahoensis</i> in the north and <i>Muhlenbergia montana</i> and <i>Sporobolus cryptandrus</i> in the south. Shrubs can be scattered but are not abundant across large areas. It occurs west of the predominant tallgrass prairie on sites where moisture availability is greater than the surrounding landscape, such as riparian areas, swales, or on lower slopes. The greater moisture availability can be a result of coarse-textured surface soils and finer subsoils that allow rapid infiltration of precipitation or low areas in the landscape. In the central Dakotas and Nebraska where precipitation is more abundant, it can occur in a wider variety of settings. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:39238-{AB8A867B-633C-4966-AB23-D555354DDE1A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 18-Dec-2014 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.900079 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: A4028
  Translated: Big Bluestem - Indiangrass Mixedgrass Western Plains Grassland Alliance
  Common: Western Plains Mixedgrass Grassland
  Scientific: Andropogon gerardii - Sorghastrum nutans Mixedgrass Western Plains Grassland Alliance