Name:
Pseudotsuga menziesii Middle Rocky Mountain Montane Forest & Woodland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group occurs throughout the middle Rocky Mountains of central and southern Idaho (Beaverhead, Lemhi, and Lost River ranges), south and east into the Greater Yellowstone region, and the Bighorn, Gros Ventre and Wind River ranges of Wyoming. It extends north into Montana on the east side of the Continental Divide, north to about the McDonald Pass area, and also into the Rocky Mountain Front region and central "sky island" ranges of Montana. This is a <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>-dominated group without the maritime floristic composition; these are forests and woodlands occurring in the Central Rockies where the southern monsoon influence is less and maritime climate regime is not important. This group includes extensive <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> forests, occasionally with <i>Pinus flexilis</i> on calcareous substrates, and <i>Pinus contorta</i> at higher elevations. True firs, such as <i>Abies concolor, Abies grandis</i>, and <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i>, are generally absent in these occurrences, but <i>Picea engelmannii</i> can occur in some stands. <i>Pinus ponderosa</i> is not common in this group. Understory components include shrubs such as <i>Juniperus communis, Mahonia repens, Physocarpus malvaceus</i>, and <i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i>, and graminoids such as <i>Calamagrostis rubescens, Carex rossii</i>, and <i>Leucopoa kingii</i>. The fire regime is of mixed severity with moderate frequency. This group often occurs at the lower treeline immediately above valley grasslands, or sagebrush steppe and shrublands. Sometimes there may be a "bath-tub ring" of <i>Pinus ponderosa</i> at lower elevations or <i>Pinus flexilis</i> between the valley non-forested and the solid <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> forest. In the Wyoming Basins, this group occurs as isolated stands of <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>, with <i>Artemisia tridentata, Carex rossii, Leucopoa kingii</i>, and <i>Pseudoroegneria spicata</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40010-{15810A20-5EC1-4964-99DA-F702B4357C47}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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