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A4677 Andropogon gerardii Central Mixedgrass Grassland Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance contains moist to bottomland stands in the central Great Plains that are dominated by Andropogon gerardii and several other tall grasses.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Big Bluestem Central Mixedgrass Grassland Alliance
Colloquial Name: West-Central Plains Big Bluestem Grassland
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance contains moist to bottomland stands in the central Great Plains that are dominated by Andropogon gerardii and several other tall grasses. Muhlenbergia montana occurs in most Colorado stands, and it occurs there on moderately clayey soils with a lot of coarse fragments in the upper horizons. This type is largely riparian, but most sites have been plowed or heavily grazed.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This alliance is the result of splitting big bluestem stands in the northern mixedgrass prairie region from those in the central mixedgrass prairie region. Associates of this type reflect the geographic region it is in and, apart from the dominant grasses, lack diagnostics of the tallgrass prairie region, especially forbs It may also be that this alliance could be disbanded and its members assigned to the moist mixedgrass prairie alliance (A4039). l Festuca idahoensis does not occur in Colorado stands (while common in Montana stands).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: No Data Available
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This type is largely riparian, but most sites have been plowed or heavily grazed. Colorado stands occur on moderately clayey soils with a lot of coarse fragments in the upper horizons. This may allow good infiltration and limit evaporation, allowing the tall grasses to survive where they are probably only getting about 15 inches of precipitation per year (Branson et al. 1965).
Geographic Range: No Data Available
Nations: US
States/Provinces: CO, KS, NE, OK, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1117391
Confidence Level: Proposed (Submitted)
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.2 Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation | F012 | 2.B.2 |
| Division | 2.B.2.Nb Central North American Grassland & Shrubland Division | D023 | 2.B.2.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.2.Nb.2 Needle-and-Thread - Western Wheatgrass - Plains Rough Fescue Grassland Macrogroup | M051 | 2.B.2.Nb.2 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nb.2.a Little Bluestem - Sideoats Grama - Western Wheatgrass Mixedgrass Prairie Group | G133 | 2.B.2.Nb.2.a |
| Alliance | A4677 Big Bluestem Central Mixedgrass Grassland Alliance | A4677 | 2.B.2.Nb.2.a |
| Association | CEGL001464 Big Bluestem - Indiangrass West-Central Plains Grassland | CEGL001464 | 2.B.2.Nb.2.a |
| Association | CEGL001465 Big Bluestem - Prairie Dropseed Western Foothills Grassland | CEGL001465 | 2.B.2.Nb.2.a |
Concept Lineage: new alliance resulting from split of A4028 in G141.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- Branson, F. A., R. F. Miller, and I. S. McQueen. 1965. Plant communities and soil moisture relationships near Denver, Colorado. Ecology 46(3):311-319.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.