Name:
Artemisia rigida - Eriogonum spp. Dwarf-shrubland & Steppe Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This scabland group is found in the Columbia Plateau region and forms extensive low shrublands. Total vegetation cover is typically low, generally less than 50% and often much less than that. Vegetation is characterized by an open dwarf-shrub canopy dominated by <i>Artemisia rigida</i> or <i>Salvia dorrii</i> along with other dwarf-shrub and suffrutescent species, particularly diagnostic <i>Eriogonum</i> spp. such as <i>Eriogonum compositum, Eriogonum douglasii, Eriogonum microthecum, Eriogonum niveum, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum, Eriogonum strictum</i>, and <i>Eriogonum thymoides</i>, which sometimes dominate the dwarf-shrub layer without <i>Artemisia rigida</i> or <i>Salvia dorrii</i>. Other shrubs, especially shrubby <i>Artemisia</i> spp., are uncommon in this group. These stands are characterized by low cover of perennial bunchgrasses, primarily <i>Poa secunda</i>, but may include <i>Danthonia unispicata, Elymus elymoides, Festuca idahoensis</i>, or <i>Pseudoroegneria spicata</i>, as well as scattered forbs, including species of <i>Allium, Antennaria, Balsamorhiza, Lomatium, Phlox</i>, and <i>Sedum</i>. Individual sites can be dominated by grasses and semi-woody forbs, such as <i>Physaria oregona</i> or <i>Nestotus stenophyllus</i>. Annuals may be seasonally abundant, and cover of moss and lichen is often high in undisturbed areas (1-60% cover). These xeric shrublands occur under relatively extreme soil-moisture conditions. Substrates are typically shallow lithic soils with limited water-holding capacity over fractured basalt. Because of poor drainage through basalt, these soils are often saturated from fall to spring by winter precipitation but typically dry out completely to bedrock by midsummer.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40065-{56CE3829-42EF-4E66-9613-337DDC6B0754}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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