Name:
Rhus trilobata / Bouteloua gracilis - Opuntia spp. Great Plains Cliff, Scree & Rock Vegetation Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group is composed of cliffs, bluffs, and rock outcrops in the Great Plains from the U.S.-Canadian border area south to Texas. It is defined by having sparse vegetation and the abundance of exposed bedrock. The bedrock exposure can be vertical, sloping, or horizontal along rivers, at the tops of buttes, in dry canyons, or, rarely, large, low bedrock outcrops. The bedrock is usually sedimentary (sandstone, limestone, shale, gypsum, siltstone), but an area of quartzite outcrops in southwestern Minnesota is included in this group. Vegetation is generally sparse except where soil accumulates in pockets or ledges. Dominant species vary greatly depending on geology of the bedrock, climate, aspect, slope, and slope position. Common species are able to tolerate the dry to xeric conditions and poor soil development found in this group. These include <i>Bouteloua eriopoda</i> (in the southwest), <i>Bouteloua gracilis, Cercocarpus montanus, Juniperus</i> spp., <i>Opuntia</i> spp., and <i>Rhus trilobata</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40236-{4AF8DD13-9239-4617-ABA3-2A0AAF7D51E4}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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