Name:
Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis - Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata Steppe & Shrubland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This widely distributed, matrix-forming shrubland group is concentrated in the drier, more southerly portions of the interior western U.S., especially in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, but extends into more xeric portions of the Columbia Plateau, Wyoming steppe, Rocky Mountains, and northeast into the northwestern Great Plains. Stands are dominated by <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis</i> and <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata</i> and, in some cases, codominated by xeric shrubs such as <i>Atriplex canescens, Atriplex confertifolia, Ephedra nevadensis, Ephedra viridis, Ericameria nauseosa, Grayia spinosa</i>, or <i>Sarcobatus vermiculatus</i>. Other common shrubs include <i>Amelanchier utahensis, Artemisia frigida, Atriplex gardneri, Chrysothamnus</i> spp., <i>Ericameria</i> spp., <i>Peraphyllum ramosissimum, Purshia tridentata</i>, and <i>Tetradymia</i> spp. If present, the herbaceous layer ranges from sparse and patchy to moderately dense and is typically dominated by dry-site graminoids with low cover of forbs. Characteristic graminoids include <i>Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum lettermanii, Achnatherum pinetorum, Achnatherum thurberianum, Bouteloua gracilis, Bromus tectorum, Carex filifolia, Distichlis spicata, Elymus albicans, Elymus elymoides, Hesperostipa comata, Leymus ambiguus, Leymus salinus, Pleuraphis jamesii, Poa fendleriana, Poa secunda, Pseudoroegneria spicata, Sporobolus airoides</i>, and <i>Sporobolus cryptandrus</i>. A sparse layer of cold-deciduous needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees may occasionally be emergent over the shrubs. This group occurs on flat to steeply sloping upland slopes on alluvial fans and terraces, toeslopes, lower and middle slopes, draws, badlands, and foothills. Stands are found at elevations as low as 500 m in the northwestern Great Plains to 2500 m in the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau. Sites with little slope tend to have deep soils, while those with steeper slopes have shallow to moderately deep soils. Climate is mostly semi-arid but ranges from semi-arid in the western Great Basin to subhumid in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains with much of the precipitation falling primarily as snow. The amount and reliability of growing-season moisture increase eastward and with increasing elevation.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40062-{7D0D5301-4E2A-4821-8E08-B1A9C9F61771}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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