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CEGL002202 Andropogon gerardii - Hesperostipa spartea - Sporobolus heterolepis Grassland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Big Bluestem - Porcupine Grass - Prairie Dropseed Grassland
Colloquial Name: Northern Mesic Big Bluestem Prairie
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This mesic big bluestem prairie community is found in the northern tallgrass prairie region of the United States and Canada. Stands occur on black, friable, organic-rich soils and have surface horizons that are high in bases. During the warm season, soils are intermittently dry for long periods or have subsurface horizons in which salts or carbonates have accumulated. This is a grassland community with dense vegetation dominated by tallgrasses. Forbs are abundant and often have high local diversity. Clumps of trees and tall brush can often be found along the boundary between wetlands and this community. Otherwise, woody vegetation is rare. Andropogon gerardii, Sporobolus heterolepis, and Hesperostipa spartea, and occasionally Sorghastrum nutans, are the most abundant species in this community. Amorpha canescens, Symphyotrichum ericoides, and Solidago canadensis are common forbs across this community''s range.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: In Iowa, this type is found in the northwestern region, where Hesperostipa spartea may be indicative. Minnesota mesic prairie includes both this type and the wet-mesic prairie ~Andropogon gerardii - (Panicum virgatum) - Muhlenbergia richardsonis Wet Meadow (CEGL002199)$$ (MNNHP 1993). Indicator species are needed that would help separate this type from central tallgrass prairie ~Andropogon gerardii - Sorghastrum nutans - (Sporobolus heterolepis) - Liatris spp. - Ratibida pinnata Grassland (CEGL002203)$$. Westward in the Great Plains, this type is replaced by ~Andropogon gerardii - Sporobolus heterolepis - Schizachyrium scoparium - Pascopyrum smithii Grassland (CEGL002376)$$ [see, e.g., Diamond and Smeins (1988), White and Glenn-Lewin (1984)].
There is a Sioux quartzite subtype associated with microhabitats found on quartzite rock outcrops. These microhabitats are found as islands in other tallgrass prairies. This subtype has a distinctive assemblage of plant species, ranging from xeric to hydric. Soils are thin to absent and xeric to wet. There are three vegetation types that occur on these rock outcrops: Type 1 on xeric bare rock surfaces; Type 2 on thin dry soils; and Type 3 in wet habitats, such as depression pools, containing water throughout the growing season. Type 1 has conspicuous lichens and bryophytes. Type 2 has Koeleria macrantha, Selaginella rupestris, Opuntia humifusa, Schedonnardus paniculatus, and Phemeranthus parviflorus. Type 3 has Bacopa rotundifolia, Eleocharis spp., Isoetes melanopoda, Juncus interior, Limosella aquatica, and Rorippa islandica (MNNHP 1993).
There is a Sioux quartzite subtype associated with microhabitats found on quartzite rock outcrops. These microhabitats are found as islands in other tallgrass prairies. This subtype has a distinctive assemblage of plant species, ranging from xeric to hydric. Soils are thin to absent and xeric to wet. There are three vegetation types that occur on these rock outcrops: Type 1 on xeric bare rock surfaces; Type 2 on thin dry soils; and Type 3 in wet habitats, such as depression pools, containing water throughout the growing season. Type 1 has conspicuous lichens and bryophytes. Type 2 has Koeleria macrantha, Selaginella rupestris, Opuntia humifusa, Schedonnardus paniculatus, and Phemeranthus parviflorus. Type 3 has Bacopa rotundifolia, Eleocharis spp., Isoetes melanopoda, Juncus interior, Limosella aquatica, and Rorippa islandica (MNNHP 1993).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This is a grassland community with dense vegetation dominated by tallgrasses 1-2 m tall. Forbs are abundant and often have high local diversity. Clumps of trees and tall brush can often be found along the boundary between wetlands and this community. Otherwise, woody vegetation is rare. Andropogon gerardii, Sporobolus heterolepis, and Hesperostipa spartea (= Stipa spartea), and occasionally Sorghastrum nutans, are the most abundant species in this community. Amorpha canescens, Symphyotrichum ericoides (= Aster ericoides), and Solidago canadensis are common forbs across this community''s range.
Dynamics: Fire plays an important role in the maintenance of this prairie type (Grimm 1984).
Environmental Description: Soils of this community are black, friable, organic-rich and have surface horizons that are high in bases. Heidel (1984b) found clay loam soils at her two study sites. During the warm season, soils are intermittently dry for long periods or have subsurface horizons in which salts or carbonates have accumulated.
Geographic Range: This mesic big bluestem prairie community is found in the northern tallgrass prairie region of the United States and Canada, ranging from northwestern Iowa and South Dakota, north to Manitoba.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: IA, MB, MN, ND, NE, ON, SD
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683202
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2G3
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.1 Big Bluestem - Indiangrass - Dense Blazingstar Tallgrass Prairie Macrogroup | M054 | 2.B.2.Nb.1 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nb.1.d Big Bluestem - Prairie Dropseed - Porcupine Grass Tallgrass Prairie Group | G075 | 2.B.2.Nb.1.d |
| Alliance | A4018 Big Bluestem - Prairie Dropseed - Mat Muhly Northern Grassland Alliance | A4018 | 2.B.2.Nb.1.d |
| Association | CEGL002202 Big Bluestem - Porcupine Grass - Prairie Dropseed Grassland | CEGL002202 | 2.B.2.Nb.1.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Andropogon gerardii - Hesperostipa spartea - Sporobolus heterolepis Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
- Dana, Robert. 1995. Personal communication. County Biological Survey ecologist, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN.
- Diamond, D. D., L. F. Elliott, M. D. DeBacker, K. M. James, D. L. Pursell, and A. Struckhoff. 2014. Vegetation mapping and classification of Pipestone National Monument, Minnesota: Project report. Natural Resource Report NPS/PIPE/NRR--2014/802. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 79 pp.
- Diamond, D. D., and F. E. Smeins. 1988. Gradient analysis of remnant true and upper coastal prairie grasslands of North America. Canadian Journal of Botany 66:2152-2161.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
- Greenall, J. A. 1996. Manitoba''s terrestrial plant communities. MS Report 96-02. Manitoba Conservation Data Centre, Winnipeg.
- Grimm, E. C. 1984. Fire and other factors controlling the Big Woods vegetation of Minnesota in the mid-nineteenth century. Ecological Monographs 54(3):291-311.
- Heidel, B. 1984b. Bluestem prairie inventory in the Red River Valley, North Dakota. Pages 160-162 in: Proceedings of the Ninth North American Prairie Conference.
- INAI [Iowa Natural Areas Inventory]. 2017. Vegetation classification of Iowa. Iowa Natural Areas Inventory, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines.
- Kindscher, K., H. Kilroy, J. Delisle, Q. Long, H. Loring, K. Dobbs, and J. Drake. 2011a. Vegetation mapping and classification of Homestead National Monument of America. Natural Resource Report NPS/HTLN/NRR--2011/345. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 72 pp.
- MNNHP [Minnesota Natural Heritage Program]. 1993. Minnesota''s native vegetation: A key to natural communities. Version 1.5. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, St. Paul, MN. 110 pp.
- Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
- Minnesota DNR [Minnesota Department of Natural Resources]. 2003-2005a. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota. Three volumes: The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province (2003), The Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province (2005c), The Prairie Parkland and Tallgrass Aspen Parklands provinces (2005b). Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul.
- Minnesota DNR [Minnesota Department of Natural Resources]. 2005b. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: The Prairie Parkland and Tallgrass Aspen Parklands provinces. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul.
- NDNHI [North Dakota Natural Heritage Inventory]. 2018. Unpublished data. Vegetation classification of North Dakota. North Dakota Natural Heritage Inventory, North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department, Bismarck.
- ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.
- SDNHP [South Dakota Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data. South Dakota Natural Heritage Program, Pierre, SD.
- White, J. A., and D. C. Glenn-Lewin. 1984. Regional and local variation in tallgrass prairie remnants of Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Vegetatio 57:65-78.