Name:
Great Plains Cliff, Scree & Rock Vegetation Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This macrogroup consists 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 vascular vegetation, cryptograms and an 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 granite, rhyolite and (rarely) quartzite also occur. 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. Lichens predominate on exposed rock. Common vascular species found in this macrogroup are able to tolerate the dry to xeric conditions and poor soil development. These include <i>Bouteloua eriopoda</i> (in the southwest), <i>Bouteloua gracilis, Bouteloua hirsuta, Bouteloua rigidiseta, Cercocarpus montanus, Erioneuron pilosum, Juniperus</i> spp., <i>Opuntia</i> spp., <i>Rhus trilobata</i>, and <i>Vulpia octoflora</i>. Cryptogams, especially lichen species, need to be described.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40513-{AF61EC96-8369-4DD3-92D9-9041F0B178EB}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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