Name:
High Andean Xeric Puna Bunch Grassland Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The macrogroup represents a diverse group of grass and scrub communities of the sub-humid to xeric Andean plateau and mountains, growing above 3000 m elevation in southwestern Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina. It also includes xeromorphic communities located further south in the Andean slopes of central Chile and Argentina, growing above 2500 m elevation with sub-humid Mediterranean climate. The structure and composition of these communities is varied. In the xeric Puna region, extensive areas are dominated by the evergreen scale-leaved composite shrub <i>Parastrephia quadrangularis</i> which forms a semi-open scrub, 1-2 m tall, growing on volcanic ashes, sometimes on sandy plains, or on stony colluviums and alluviums farther south. Accompanying species of this type are <i>Parastrephia lepidophylla, Parastrephia phylicaeformis, Adesmia occulta, Junellia minima, Deyeuxia brevifolia, Stipa nardoides, Senecio humillimus, Festuca orthophylla, Werneria aretioides</i>, and <i>Azorella compacta</i>. Other communities distributed in the southern portion of the xeric Puna show a combination of grass and forbs of tropical affinity growing with elements typical of the Mediterranean Andes, such as those in the genera <i>Adesmia, Fabiana, Mulinum</i>, and <i>Artemisia</i>. In the Mediterranean high Andes of central Chile and Argentina, the vegetation growing on stony, mineral soils is formed by a semi-open shrub layer, usually thorny and short with diagnostics <i>Anarthrophyllum gayanum, Laretia acaulis, Haplopappus scrobiculatus, Senecio polygaloides, Adesmia subterranea, Adesmia horrida, Adesmia hemisphaerica, Junellia uniflora, Oxalis bryoides, Discaria prostrata</i>, and <i>Astragalus</i> spp. Communities which are seasonally covered by snow for longer periods are dominated by <i>Azorella cryptantha, Azorella madreporica, Azorella monantha, Adesmia subterranea, Discaria nana</i>, and <i>Stipa chrysophylla</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:41021-{871BEA77-2DA4-430F-86E5-4C11FF1FBB63}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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