Name:
Quercus turbinella - Ceanothus greggii - Arctostaphylos pungens Chaparral Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This interior chaparral group is found across the southwestern U.S. from central New Mexico and southern Utah west to California. The moderate to dense evergreen shrub layer is dominated by sclerophyllous shrubs, especially <i>Ceanothus greggii</i> and <i>Quercus turbinella</i>. Other common shrubs from the eastern portion of its range (Arizona and New Mexico) include <i>Arctostaphylos pringlei</i> (higher elevations), <i>Arctostaphylos pungens, Cercocarpus montanus, Garrya wrightii, Purshia stansburiana, Quercus toumeyi</i>, and <i>Rhus trilobata</i>. In desert chaparral stands in the western extent <i>Arctostaphylos patula</i> (not dominant), <i>Arctostaphylos glauca, Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber, Garrya flavescens, Juniperus californica, Nolina parryi, Quercus john-tuckeri, Quercus cornelius-mulleri, Quercus berberidifolia</i>, and <i>Rhus ovata</i> characterize this shrubland. Scattered remnant pinyon and juniper trees may be present; however, in the western Mojave, <i>Juniperus californica</i> sometimes forms an open, shrubby tree layer with the evergreen oaks and other shrubs. Stands occur prominently across central Arizona (Mogollon Rim) and western New Mexico, south into mountains in the northwestern Chihuahuan region and Madrean Occidentale in northern Mexico, and north into extreme southwestern Utah and southern Nevada. It also occurs in mountains in the Sonora and western Mojave deserts, and extends from northeast Kern County, California, and south into Baja Norte, Mexico. Stands are found on foothills, xeric mountain slopes and canyons in hotter and drier habitats and often dominate along the mid-elevation transition zone between desert scrub and montane woodlands (1000-2200 m). Sites are often steep and rocky. Parent materials are varied and include basalt, diabases, gneiss, schist, shales, slates, sandstones and, more commonly, limestone and coarse-textured granitic substrates. Occasional desert scrub species may be present in drier, rockier, more open transition sites. Most chaparral species are fire-adapted, sprouting vigorously after burning or producing abundant fire-resistant seeds. Stands occurring within montane woodlands are seral and a result of recent fires.<br /><br />The similar ~Eastern Madrean Chaparral Group (G280)$$ has floristics mostly derived from the Sierra Madre Oriental, whereas floristics of this group are derived from the Sierra Madre Occidentale. However, this group is not mattoral (thornscrub) as it is typically dominated by shrubby evergreen oaks and chaparral species, not thornscrub species. More survey is needed to determine if <i>Quercus turbinella</i>, common in this group, also codominates in ~Eastern Madrean Chaparral Group (G280)$$.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40045-{F2F468EE-103C-4E3C-AAE3-3044297A203D}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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