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A.1079 | EcoArt 2002
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Name: A.1079
Reference: EcoArt 2002
Description: These communities are typically located in the subalpine and lower alpine zones of mountains in the Pacific Northwest. The climate is cold and snowy with severe winds, snow abrasion, and a short growing season. Annual precipitation is often over 200 cm in the Cascades. These communities typically occur on droughty, exposed south-facing mountain slopes where snow blows off or melts relatively early. Elevations typically range from 1700-2400 m in the Cascades and up to 2600 m in the Rocky Mountains. Soils are composed of varied parent materials, including granitics, limestone, and basalt, but are usually skeletal and well-drained. These are dense dwarf-shrub communities strongly dominated by ~Arctostaphylos uva-ursi$, with a sparse mixture of forb and graminoid associates. In the Cascades, ~Empetrum nigrum$, another ericaceous shrub, may codominate stands. ~Minuartia obtusiloba$ is a characteristic forb associate in both Cascade and Rocky Mountain stands. Other common herbaceous associates across the range include ~Sedum lanceolatum, Achillea millefolium, Carex rupestris, Polygonum bistortoides, Festuca brachyphylla$, and ~Carex scirpoidea ssp. pseudoscirpoidea$. ~Carex spectabilis$ becomes a conspicuous graminoid associate in stands west of the Cascade crest. Adjacent vegetation is usually parkland or krummholz composed of ~Tsuga mertensiana, Pinus albicaulis, Larix lyallii$, or ~Abies lasiocarpa$, dry alpine grasslands, sedge wetlands, or bare rock and ice. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.848.A1079
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 17-Mar-2005
     
  • status: accepted
  • Community's Parent: IV.A.1.N.b
  • This Community's Level: Alliance
  • This Community's Children: [none]
Names:   Scientific: ARCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA-URSI DWARF-SHRUBLAND ALLIANCE
  Code: A.1079
  Common: Kinikinnick Dwarf-shrubland Alliance
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(undetermined) Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Dwarf-shrubland Alliance