Name:
Arctostaphylos spp. / Festuca idahoensis ssp. roemeri - Danthonia californica Shrubland & Grassland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This herbaceous to shrub-herbaceous group is found from Vancouver Island down the Pacific coast to San Francisco. The vegetation is grassland with some dwarf-shrubs which can occur as small patches but are usually in a matrix with the herbaceous vegetation. Bunchgrasses often dominate and include <i>Calamagrostis nutkaensis, Festuca rubra, Festuca idahoensis ssp. roemeri</i>, or <i>Danthonia californica</i>. Dwarf-shrub species imbedded in the herbaceous cover often include <i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Arctostaphylos columbiana, Arctostaphylos nevadensis, Gaultheria shallon, Juniperus communis, Rubus spectabilis</i>, and <i>Vaccinium ovatum</i>. Occasionally scattered stunted trees, such as <i>Picea sitchensis, Pseudotsuga menziesii</i>, or <i>Quercus garryana</i>, may be present. It occurs along the coast on steep coastal terraces, headlands and bluffs, level ridgeline balds, and flat interior (leeward) meadows. The group includes many areas that are inland and do not have coastal exposure. Due to shallow soils, steep slopes, sunny aspect, and/or upper slope position, these sites are dry and marginal for tree establishment and growth except in favorable microsites. Fires, both lightning-ignited and those ignited by Native Americans, undoubtedly at least occasionally burn all these sites. Because of this fire history, the extent of this group has declined locally through tree invasion and growth, as areas formerly maintained as herbaceous by burning have filled in with trees. It occurs in the Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains and at low elevations on the lee side of the coastal mountains in the northern part of the range.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40196-{57AB1F55-12CC-4CF5-ADDA-F91AB322614A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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