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CEGL001874 Carex duriuscula Grassland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Needleleaf Sedge Grassland
Colloquial Name: Needleleaf Sedge Grassland
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This herbaceous association is abundant in foothills and mountain slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains, on mesatops in adjacent dry plains, and may be more widespread in the Great Plains and western North America. Elevation ranges from 1200 to 2500 m (occasionally up to 3000 m). Stands occur in open parks on mesas in plains near mountain fronts and in foothill and montane zones on flat or gentle slopes with coarse-textured soil. This is also one of the early communities to develop on "rock-wash" alluvial fans that exit from canyons. Substrates are rapidly drained silty clay loams to coarse sandy and gravelly soil (granitic) lacking humus, often with moderate to high cover of large and small rocks and low cover of bare ground. Vegetation is characterized by an open to moderately dense graminoid layer dominated by Carex duriuscula. Poa secunda may codominate in the graminoid layer. Other associated graminoids can include Elymus elymoides, Festuca saximontana, Hesperostipa comata, Koeleria macrantha, Poa fendleriana, and the introduced species Poa palustris. Commonly occurring forbs include Achillea millefolium, Artemisia campestris, Artemisia frigida, Cryptantha virgata, Gaillardia aristata, and Tetraneuris torreyana, and the cacti Opuntia polyacantha. Scattered dwarf-shrub Krascheninnikovia lanata may provide low cover. Selaginella densa is common, and lichens are important on the soil surface, sometimes providing abundant cover (about 25%).
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Carex stenophylla Wahlenb. and Carex eleocharis Bailey are synonyms for Carex duriuscula C.A. Mey. Immature and depauperate specimens are often confused with Carex praegracilis, a common prairie sedge (McGregor and Barkley 1986). This species ranges widely in the Great Plains and western North America and may occur abundantly enough locally to form a community (Hermann 1970, Kartesz 1999). More survey is needed to document stands on the plains and compare them to foothill and mountain stands.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This herbaceous association is characterized by an open to moderately dense graminoid layer dominated by Carex duriuscula. Poa secunda may codominate in the graminoid layer. Other associated graminoids can include Elymus elymoides, Festuca saximontana, Hesperostipa comata, Koeleria macrantha, Poa fendleriana, and introduced Poa palustris. Commonly occurring forbs include Achillea millefolium, Artemisia campestris, Artemisia frigida, Cryptantha virgata, Gaillardia aristata, and Tetraneuris torreyana, and the cacti Opuntia polyacantha. Scattered dwarf-shrub Krascheninnikovia lanata may provide low cover. Selaginella densa is common, and lichens are important on the soil surface, sometimes providing abundant cover (about 25%).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This herbaceous association is abundant in foothills and mountain slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains, on mesatops in adjacent dry plains, and may be more widespread in the Great Plains and western North America. Elevations range from 1200 to 2500 m (occasionally up to 3000 m) (Ramaley 1919a, c, Hermann 1970). Ramaley (1916b, 1919a, b, c) states that this type occurs in open parks on mesas in plains near mountain fronts and in foothill and montane zones on flat or gentle slopes with coarse-textured soil. This is also one of the early communities to develop on "rock-wash" alluvial fans that exit from canyons (Ramaley 1919b). Substrates are rapidly drained silty clay loams to coarse sandy and gravelly soil (granitic) lacking humus, often with moderate to high cover of large and small rocks and low cover of bare ground.
Geographic Range: This herbaceous association in known from the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: CO, WY
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683190
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GUQ
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.Nf Western North American Grassland & Shrubland Division | D022 | 2.B.2.Nf |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.2.Nf.3 Tufted Hairgrass - Licorice-root species - Mountain Muhly Subalpine-High Montane Mesic Meadow Macrogroup | M168 | 2.B.2.Nf.3 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nf.3.a Arizona Fescue - Thurber''s Fescue - Mountain Muhly Grassland Group | G268 | 2.B.2.Nf.3.a |
| Alliance | A3953 Arizona Fescue - Mountain Muhly - Muttongrass Southern Rocky Mountain Montane Grassland Alliance | A3953 | 2.B.2.Nf.3.a |
| Association | CEGL001874 Needleleaf Sedge Grassland | CEGL001874 | 2.B.2.Nf.3.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Carex stenophylla Grassland Association (Ramaley 1919a) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
= Carex stenophylla Grassland Association (Ramaley 1919b) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
= Carex stenophylla Grassland Association: foothills and montane (Ramaley 1919c) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
= Carex stenophylla Society (Ramaley 1916b) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
< Grassland and Sedgeland (Ramaley 1942) [Carex duriuscula (= Carex stenophylla) is mentioned as a component of drier stream terraces in the San Luis Valley.]
= Carex stenophylla Grassland Association (Ramaley 1919b) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
= Carex stenophylla Grassland Association: foothills and montane (Ramaley 1919c) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
= Carex stenophylla Society (Ramaley 1916b) [Carex stenophylla is a synonym for Carex duriuscula.]
< Grassland and Sedgeland (Ramaley 1942) [Carex duriuscula (= Carex stenophylla) is mentioned as a component of drier stream terraces in the San Luis Valley.]
- Bourgeron, P. S., and L. D. Engelking, editors. 1994. A preliminary vegetation classification of the western United States. Unpublished report. The Nature Conservancy, Western Heritage Task Force, Boulder, CO. 175 pp. plus appendix.
- CNHP [Colorado Natural Heritage Program]. 2006-2017. Tracked natural plant communities. Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. [https://cnhp.colostate.edu/ourdata/trackinglist/plant_communities/]
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- Hermann, F. J. 1970. Manual of the Carices of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Basin. Agriculture Handbook No. 374. USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC. 397 pp.
- Kartesz, J. T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC.
- McGregor, R. L., and T. M. Barkley. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence. 1392 pp.
- Ramaley, F. 1916b. Dry grassland of a high mountain park in northern Colorado. The Plant World 19(4):249-270.
- Ramaley, F. 1919a. The role of sedges in some Colorado plant communities. American Journal of Botany 6:120-130.
- Ramaley, F. 1919b. Some mountain plant communities of sandy soil. The Plant World 22(11):313-329.
- Ramaley, F. 1919c. Xerophytic grasslands at different altitudes in Colorado. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 46(2):37-52.
- Ramaley, F. 1942. Vegetation of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. University of Colorado Studies, Series D, 1:231-277.
- Tendick, A., J. Coles, P. Williams, G. Bradshaw, G. Manis, A. Wight, G. Wakefield, and A. Evenden. 2010. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Curecanti National Recreation Area. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCPN/NRTR--2010/408. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 797 pp.
- WNDD [Wyoming Natural Diversity Database]. No date. Unpublished data on file. Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.
- Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.