Login | Datasets | Logout
Jump to... Home PLOT search PLANT search COMMUNITY search Simple search Manage datasets Tutorial About FAQ ------- Site map VegBranch Data dictionary ERD

stdcommconcept5245352453

View Community Concepts - Detail

Bouteloua eriopoda - Bouteloua ramosa - Muhlenbergia porteri Semi-Desert Grassland Group | NatureServe Biotics 2019
click to update datacart
Name: Bouteloua eriopoda - Bouteloua ramosa - Muhlenbergia porteri Semi-Desert Grassland Group Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019 Description: This group is a broadly defined desert grassland (shrub-steppe) that is typical of the Borderlands of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico and extending throughout much of the Chihuahuan Desert west to the Sonoran Desert, and north to the Mogollon Rim. The vegetation is characterized by an open to dense herbaceous layer dominated by a diverse mixture of perennial desert grasses. Scattered shrubs and succulents are usually present, but usually have lower total cover than the herbaceous layer. Common species include desert grasses such as <i>Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua ramosa, Bouteloua rothrockii, Muhlenbergia porteri</i>, as well as widespread species <i>Bouteloua curtipendula, Bouteloua gracilis, Bouteloua hirsuta</i>, and <i>Eragrostis intermedia</i>. Also typical are succulents such as <i>Agave lechuguilla</i>, rosetophyllous shrubs such as species of <i>Nolina, Dasylirion</i>, and <i>Yucca</i>, and short (dwarf) shrubs including species of <i>Calliandra, Mimosa</i>, and <i>Parthenium</i>. Scattered tall shrubs and short trees such as species of <i>Acacia, Prosopis</i>, and various oaks may be present but with low cover. In upper foothills and lower montane zones <i>Muhlenbergia emersleyi</i> and <i>Muhlenbergia setifolia</i> are characteristic species. Sites occur on gently sloping alluvial erosional fans and piedmonts (bajadas) that lie along mountain fronts of the isolated basin ranges (e.g., Sky Island mountain archipelago) extending onto foothill slopes up to 1670 m elevation in the Chihuahuan Desert.<br /><br />Many of the historical desert grassland and savanna areas have been converted through intensive grazing and other land uses, some to ~North American Warm Desert Ruderal Scrub Group (G819)$$ (<i>Prosopis</i> spp.-dominated) or ~Chihuahuan Creosotebush - Mixed Desert Scrub Group (G288)$$ (<i>Larrea tridentata</i>-dominated).  Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40125-{B77E1DD5-390F-415C-83FB-78F6D6EAC3CA} Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 05-Nov-2015 to: ongoing
	status: accepted Community's Parent: Bouteloua eriopoda - Muhlenbergia emersleyi - Pleuraphis mutica Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland Macrogroup This Community's Level: Group This Community's Children: Show/Hide   Bouteloua eriopoda - Bouteloua ramosa Piedmont Desert Grassland Alliance   Dasylirion spp. / Bouteloua curtipendula - Muhlenbergia setifolia Foothill Desert Grassland Alliance   Muhlenbergia emersleyi - Muhlenbergia setifolia - Hesperostipa neomexicana Madrean Lower Montane Grassland Alliance		Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.837727 NatureServe Explorer   Code: G490   Scientific: Bouteloua eriopoda - Bouteloua ramosa - Muhlenbergia porteri Semi-Desert Grassland Group