Name:
Artemisia arbuscula - Artemisia nova - Artemisia rigida Steppe & Shrubland Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This broadly defined semi-arid dwarf-shrubland and steppe occurs throughout much of the intermountain western U.S. The vegetation is characterized by an open to moderately dense shrub or dwarf-shrub layer with a sparse to moderately dense herbaceous layer. Several different short sagebrush taxa may dominate depending on location and habitat. <i>Artemisia nova</i> is most widespread, occurring throughout most of the region on mid- to low-elevation, gravelly, calcareous soils. <i>Artemisia arbuscula ssp. arbuscula</i> occurs on low- to high-elevation sites often on shallow, fine-textured soils with a dense clay layer that impedes drainage in spring. <i>Artemisia arbuscula ssp. longiloba</i> is widespread in the Columbia Basin, Great Basin, southwestern Montana, southwestern Wyoming, and badlands in the western Great Plains. It occurs on shallow, alkaline, calcareous soils derived from shale. <i>Artemisia bigelovii</i> occurs throughout much of the Colorado Plateau and extends across northern New Mexico into southeastern Colorado on shallow soils on limestone hills and shale outcrops. <i>Artemisia rigida</i> is restricted to the Columbia Plateau scablands with shallow, poorly drained, lithic soil over fractured basalt that is often saturated in winter, but typically dries out completely to bedrock by midsummer. These stands are typically codominated by diagnostic <i>Eriogonum</i> species: <i>Eriogonum compositum, Eriogonum douglasii, Eriogonum microthecum, Eriogonum niveum, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum, Eriogonum strictum</i>, and/or <i>Eriogonum thymoides</i>. These same <i>Eriogonum</i> species may be dominant without <i>Artemisia rigida</i>. Another local diagnostic/dominant species is <i>Artemisia papposa</i> that is restricted to poorly drained, mesic sites in southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. Several other more restricted taxa include <i>Artemisia tripartita ssp. rupicola, Artemisia arbuscula ssp. longicaulis, Artemisia arbuscula ssp. thermopola</i>, and <i>Artemisia frigida</i>. Other shrub associates may be present such as <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis, Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana, Ephedra torreyana, Ephedra viridis, Grayia spinosa</i>, or <i>Purshia tridentata</i>, depending on habitat. The herbaceous layer, if present, ranges from sparse cushion plants, such as <i>Arenaria hookeri, Eriogonum brevicaule</i>, and <i>Phlox hoodii</i>, to moderate to dense cover of perennial grasses. Characteristic grasses include <i>Achnatherum hymenoides, Bouteloua gracilis, Danthonia unispicata, Elymus elymoides, Elymus lanceolatus, Festuca idahoensis, Hesperostipa comata, Pascopyrum smithii, Pleuraphis jamesii, Poa fendleriana, Poa secunda</i>, and <i>Pseudoroegneria spicata</i>. Scattered forbs may include species of <i>Allium, Antennaria, Balsamorhiza, Lomatium, Phlox</i>, and <i>Sedum</i>. Some stands have significant biological crust formation on the soil surface. Sites are generally xeric and may be wind-blown ridges and benches, gravelly alluvial fans, hilltops, canyons, gravelly draws, and dry flats. Most stands occur from 1000 to 3000 m elevation with some extending up to 3800 m in subalpine and alpine habitats of the Sierra Nevada. Substrates are variable, but are typically alluvium derived from limestone, shale, basalt, rhyolite or volcanics.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40532-{BC8F3582-7C89-4F7D-BED6-277FE1C064C8}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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