Name:
Pinus contorta Rocky Mountain Forest & Woodland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group occupies upper montane to subalpine elevations of the Rocky Mountains, north into the Canadian Rockies and east into mountain "islands" of north-central Montana. Parent materials are typically well-drained, gravelly, coarse-textured, acidic, and are rarely formed from calcareous parent materials. Other stands occur over excessively well-drained pumice deposits, glacial till and alluvium on valley floors where there is cold-air accumulation, warm and droughty shallow soils over fractured quartzite bedrock, and shallow moisture-deficient soils with a significant component of volcanic ash. In these conditions where other conifers cannot become established, stands of <i>Pinus contorta</i> may persist for longer periods. These forests are dominated by <i>Pinus contorta</i> with shrub, grass, or barren understories. Sometimes there are intermingled mixed conifer/<i>Populus tremuloides</i> stands, with the latter occurring with inclusions of deeper, typically fine-textured soils. The shrub stratum may be conspicuous to absent; common species include <i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Artemisia tridentata, Juniperus communis, Ceanothus velutinus, Linnaea borealis, Mahonia repens, Purshia tridentata, Spiraea betulifolia, Spiraea douglasii, Shepherdia canadensis, Vaccinium scoparium, Vaccinium cespitosum, Vaccinium membranaceum, Symphoricarpos albus</i>, and <i>Ribes</i> spp. Common herbaceous species include <i>Festuca idahoensis, Elymus elymoides, Calamagrostis rubescens, Carex geyeri, Carex pensylvanica</i>, and <i>Carex rossii</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40015-{F391A351-C7EF-4677-AEC9-0CF5E6561099}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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