Name:
Encelia actonii - Encelia virginensis - Viguiera reticulata Desert Scrub Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This shrubland alliance forms an open to intermittent shrub layer. The emergent tree layer, when present, is sparse to open, and the herbaceous layer is also sparse to open. <i>Encelia actonii, Encelia virginensis</i>, or <i>Viguiera reticulata</i> is dominant or codominant in the shrub layer and <i>Hymenoclea salsola</i> is characteristically present at lower cover. <i>Ambrosia dumosa, Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa, Echinocereus engelmannii, Ephedra nevadensis, Eriogonum fasciculatum, Gutierrezia microcephala, Larrea tridentata, Lycium andersonii, Salazaria mexicana, Salvia dorrii</i>, and <i>Stephanomeria pauciflora</i> are often present. <i>Bromus rubens, Eriogonum inflatum, Erodium cicutarium</i>, and <i>Sphaeralcea ambigua</i> are often to characteristically present in the herbaceous layer. The alliance is found in the Mojave Desert of California primarily on drainages, but occasionally occurs on scree slopes with recent disturbance. Habitats include intermittently flooded arroyos, canyons, and washes adjacent to alluvial fans, road cuts, and other substrates with recent disturbance. Elevations range from 300 to 1900 m. Soils are often derived from sandstone, typically calcareous alluvium, though may be derived from other substrates, including rhyolite, and they have a variety of textures, ranging from clay loam to sand to silt loam.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:39362-{57F34CEA-01C4-4215-A855-410F7274A8C7}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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