Name:
Arctostaphylos patula - Arctostaphylos nevadensis - Ceanothus velutinus Montane Sclerophyll Scrub Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group consists of cool, mostly montane chaparral and sclerophyllous scrublands that occur in the western United States from the Sierra Nevada, Klamath-Siskiyou mountains and southern Cascade Range of California, Oregon and Washington east on the ranges of the Great Basin and plateaus of the Colorado Plateau into the Rocky Mountains extending out to the Black Hills. There are also occurrences extending as far west as the inner Coast Ranges in central California and the Peninsular and Transverse ranges. Stands are typically fairly open-canopied shrublands with open interspaces either bare or supporting patchy grasses and forbs. <i>Arctostaphylos patula</i> and <i>Ceanothus velutinus</i> are the most widespread dominant/diagnostic species. Other dominant/diagnostic species include <i>Arctostaphylos mewukka, Arctostaphylos nevadensis, Arctostaphylos viscida, Ceanothus cordulatus, Ceanothus integerrimus, Ceanothus martinii, Chrysolepis sempervirens, Holodiscus discolor, Prunus emarginata, Quercus garryana var. fruticosa</i> (shrub form), <i>Quercus sadleriana</i>, and <i>Quercus vacciniifolia</i>. <i>Cercocarpus ledifolius</i> is generally absent. Most of the oaks and other chaparral species occur in the western extent. Understory varies with shrub density but is generally sparse. Occasional emergent conifers may be present. Higher elevation stands typically have higher species diversity. Stands in this group are typically montane shrublands found on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades and into the western Great Basin, Colorado Plateau and the Black Hills of South Dakota in summer-dry habitats from 800 to 3000 m elevation. Stands in California are found at higher elevations than most other chaparral ranging from 300 to 3300 m elevation. They occur in the northern Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, Modoc Plateau, Sierra Nevada and foothills, and southern Cascades of California, Oregon and Washington. Climate is semi-arid to cool temperate. Yearly precipitation and temperature ranges are quite large. Much of the precipitation comes as winter snow at higher elevations, and summer drought-stress is characteristic. These shrublands occur on ridges and rocky slopes often with southerly aspects. Substrates are thin, well-drained skeletal soils with coarser texture loamy or sandy soils. Parent materials are varied and range from limestone and sandstone to granitics, mafic, and ultramafic substrates. These shrub communities established after stand-replacing fires or clearcut logging in <i>Pinus ponderosa</i> or <i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> forests or pinyon-juniper woodlands, and are seral to forest after several decades. Excessively rocky or droughty, fire-prone sites in the forest may support relatively persistent stands of this group. In the Rocky Mountains, stands are found within a matrix of montane conifer forest and woodland in limited, small-patch occurrences forming post-fire shrublands in areas previously dominated by woodlands. Typical fire regime in this group varies with the amount of organic accumulation. All characteristic species are fire-adapted.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40046-{B194B50E-D7C5-454B-B3B2-70EE597F56F5}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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