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CEGL001337 Flourensia cernua / Sporobolus airoides Shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Tarwort / Alkali Sacaton Shrubland
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: On White Sands, this is a major community of the Jornada del Muerto and Tularosa basins and along the alluvial piedmont slopes of the Oscura and San Andres mountains. Stands are commonly found in shallow swales in basins and shallow drainages of both upper and lower piedmont slopes at elevations of 1160 to 1650 m (3800-5400 feet). Soils are heavy clay loams or silty loams typical of depositional swale sites. Most slope grades are low to flat. This community is characterized by an open canopy of Flourensia cernua with an abundant to luxuriant grass understory. Larrea tridentata, Atriplex canescens, and Cylindropuntia leptocaulis are often interspersed in the shrub canopy. The understory is dominated by thick, dense patches of Sporobolus airoides with scattered patches of Scleropogon brevifolius intermixed. Acourtia nana, Lepidium montanum, and Hoffmannseggia glauca are the most consistent forbs scattered within the grasses, but a variety of other forbs may occur in individual stands.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This community is usually limited by the bounds of the swales or drainages where it occurs. These sites were probably dominated by pure Sporobolus airoides grasslands historically, but Flourensia cernua may have invaded as a result of past grazing combined with drought, which creates openings in the grass canopy that are a prerequisite for Flourensia cernua establishment (Buffington and Herbel 1965, Montana et al. 1995). Diversity is high in these stands which is unusual for Sporobolus airoides communities, which are usually nearly monotypic (Francis 1986, Stubbendieck et al. 1992). Soils and landforms, however, are similar to other swale types that have much less diversity.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This community is characterized by an open canopy of Flourensia cernua with an abundant to luxuriant grass understory. Larrea tridentata, Atriplex canescens, and Cylindropuntia leptocaulis (= Opuntia leptocaulis) are often interspersed in the shrub canopy. The understory is dominated by thick, dense patches of Sporobolus airoides with scattered patches of Scleropogon brevifolius intermixed. Acourtia nana, Lepidium montanum, and Hoffmannseggia glauca are the most consistent forbs scattered within the grasses, but a variety of other forbs may occur in individual stands.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: On White Sands, this is a major community of the Jornada del Muerto and Tularosa basins and along the alluvial piedmont slopes of the Oscura and San Andres mountains. Stands are commonly found in shallow swales in basins and shallow drainages of both upper and lower piedmont slopes at elevations of 1160 to 1650 m (3800-5400 feet). Soils are heavy clay loams or silty loams typical of depositional swale sites. Most slope grades are low to flat.
Geographic Range: On White Sands, New Mexico, this is a major community of the Jornada del Muerto and Tularosa basins.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: NM
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684042
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNRQ
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 3 Desert & Semi-Desert Class | C03 | 3 |
| Subclass | 3.A Warm Desert & Semi-Desert Woodland, Scrub & Grassland Subclass | S06 | 3.A |
| Formation | 3.A.2 Warm Desert & Semi-Desert Scrub & Grassland Formation | F015 | 3.A.2 |
| Division | 3.A.2.Na North American Warm Desert Scrub & Grassland Division | D039 | 3.A.2.Na |
| Macrogroup | 3.A.2.Na.2 Creosotebush - American Tarwort - Mesquite species Chihuahuan Desert Scrub Macrogroup | M086 | 3.A.2.Na.2 |
| Group | 3.A.2.Na.2.b Fourwing Saltbush - American Tarwort Lowland Basin Scrub Group | G299 | 3.A.2.Na.2.b |
| Alliance | A3152 American Tarwort Lowland Basin Desert Scrub Alliance | A3152 | 3.A.2.Na.2.b |
| Association | CEGL001337 American Tarwort / Alkali Sacaton Shrubland | CEGL001337 | 3.A.2.Na.2.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Flourensia cernua / Sporobolus airoides Community Type (Muldavin et al. 1994b)
= Tarbush/Alkali Sacaton PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b) [(Flourensia cernua/Sporobolus airoides; FLOCER/SPOAIR )]
= Tarbush/Alkali Sacaton PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b) [(Flourensia cernua/Sporobolus airoides; FLOCER/SPOAIR )]
- 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.
- Buffington, L. C., and C. H. Herbel. 1965. Vegetational changes on a semidesert grassland range from 1858 to 1963. Ecological Monographs 35(2):139-164.
- Francis, R. E. 1986. Phyto-edaphic communities of the Upper Rio Puerco Watershed, New Mexico. Research Paper RM-272. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 73 pp.
- Montana, C., B. Cavagnaro, and O. Briones. 1995. Soil water use by co-existing shrubs and grasses in the Southern Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico. Journal of Arid Environments 31:1-13.
- Muldavin, E., M. P. Moreno, J. Thomson, and P. Mehlhop. 1994b. A vegetation map for White Sands National Monument. Final report prepared for White Sands National Monument: Alamogordo, NM, by New Mexico Natural Heritage Program.
- Muldavin, E., Y. Chauvin, and G. Harper. 2000b. The vegetation of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico: Volume I. Handbook of vegetation communities. Final report to Environmental Directorate, White Sands Missile Range. New Mexico Natural Heritage Program, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 195 pp. plus appendices
- Muldavin, E., and P. Mehlhop. 1992. A preliminary classification and test vegetation map for White Sands Missile Range and San Andreas National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. University of New Mexico, New Mexico Natural Heritage Program.
- Stubbendieck, J., S. L. Hatch, and C. H. Butterfield. 1992. North American range plants, 4th edition. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. 493 pp.
- Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.