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CEGL000743 Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Rocky Mountain Juniper / Big Sagebrush Woodland
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association occurs locally in Colorado, the portions of Wyoming surrounding the Bighorn Basin, and Montana''s Greenhorn Range. Stands develop on foothills, plateaus, piedmont fans, rockslides and canyons. Elevations range from 1680 to 1830 m (5500-6000 feet) in Montana and 2200 to 2600 m (7545-8120 feet) in Colorado and Wyoming. Slopes are gentle to very steep (5-70%), may be oriented to any aspect, and are frequently rocky but include shaly substrates. Litter and duff are restricted to plant bases leaving much exposed soil, rock, bedrock and gravel. Bare ground also results from rill and sheet erosion and animal trailing. Soils are variable and include clay loams, sands and silt loams; some soils effervesce violently. Although this is not a riparian association, the best-developed examples occur in gullies and swales. The vegetation is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense, sometimes clumpy canopy of Juniperus scopulorum (constituting between 5 and 40% canopy cover) and a somewhat depauperate undergrowth as well, in which a sparse to moderate shrub layer dominated by Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana or Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis is sometimes matched by a well-developed herbaceous layer. Associated shrubs may include Amelanchier utahensis, Artemisia frigida, Juniperus communis, Mahonia repens, Opuntia polyacantha, Paxistima myrsinites, Prunus virginiana, Purshia tridentata, Ribes cereum, and Symphoricarpos rotundifolius. The herbaceous layer is diverse in terms of species composition and provides sparse to moderate cover. Graminoids dominate the herbaceous layer, including Pseudoroegneria spicata, Achnatherum hymenoides, Bouteloua gracilis, Hesperostipa comata, Koeleria macrantha, Carex rossii, Elymus elymoides, and Poa fendleriana. Forbs provide little cover but may include Eriogonum umbellatum, Cryptantha flavoculata, and Physaria rollinsii.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Without tightly defined occurrence specifications, stands of this association may have been classified as shrub-steppe or grassland plant associations because (1) the cover of Juniperus scopulorum itself is sometimes so low that these stands would not have been considered woodlands but merely medium-tall temperate or subpolar grasslands with a sparse needle-leaved evergreen layer or even a medium-tall temperate or subpolar grassland with a sparse microphyllous evergreen shrub layer, and (2) alternatively, with sufficient cover of Juniperus scopulorum but Artemisia tridentata poorly represented, stands could be placed in ~Juniperus scopulorum / Pseudoroegneria spicata Woodland (CEGL000748)$$.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This open woodland association is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense, sometimes clumpy canopy of Juniperus scopulorum (constituting between 5 and 40% canopy cover) and a somewhat depauperate undergrowth as well, in which a sparse to moderate shrub layer dominated by Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana or Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis is sometimes matched by a well-developed herbaceous layer. Associated shrubs may include Amelanchier utahensis, Artemisia frigida, Cercocarpus montanus, Holodiscus dumosus, Juniperus communis, Mahonia repens, Opuntia polyacantha, Paxistima myrsinites, Prunus virginiana, Purshia tridentata, Ribes cereum, and Symphoricarpos rotundifolius. The herbaceous layer is diverse in terms of species composition and provides sparse to moderate cover depending on the degree of canopy closure. Graminoids dominate the herbaceous layer and include Pseudoroegneria spicata, Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum lettermanii, Achnatherum pinetorum, Aristida purpurea, Bouteloua gracilis, Hesperostipa comata, Koeleria macrantha, Carex rossii, Elymus elymoides, Leymus cinereus, and Poa fendleriana. Forbs provide little cover but may include Arabis crandallii, Cryptantha flavoculata, Eriogonum umbellatum, Penstemon procerus, Phlox hoodii, Physaria rollinsii, and Potentilla fissa (Hess and Alexander 1986).
Dynamics: Although this is not a riparian association, some of the best developed examples occur in gullies and swales.
Environmental Description: This association is found locally in Colorado, the portions of Wyoming surrounding the Bighorn Basin and Fossil Butte, and Montana''s Greenhorn Range. Stands occur on the slopes of ridges and canyons, on foothills, plateaus, piedmont fans, and soil slumps lobe rockslides. Elevation ranges from 1680 to 1830 m (5500-6000 feet) in Montana to 2200 to 2475 m (7215-8120 feet) in Colorado and Wyoming (Wasser and Hess 1982, Hess and Alexander 1986, Cooper et al. 1995). Slopes are gentle to very steep (5-70%), may be oriented to any aspect, and are frequently rocky. Litter and duff are restricted to plant bases, leaving much exposed soil, rock, bedrock and gravel. Soils are variable and include clay loams, sands and silt loams; some soils effervesce violently. Parent materials are variable and include colluvial and residual schists and gneisses, sandstones, limestones, shales (Wasatch Formation) and eolian sand deposits.
Geographic Range: This poorly documented association is known from widely scattered foothills, canyons and plateaus in Colorado, Wyoming and west-central Montana. In Wyoming it is most likely to be found around the margins of the Bighorn Basin (western flank of Bighorn Mountains, northern flank of Owl Creek Mountains, and eastern flank of Absaroka Mountains) and possibly the eastern flank of the Wind River Range. In Montana it has been cursorily documented only from the foothills and piedmont fans at the northern end of the Gravelly Range; in Colorado it occurs along the Front Range between Denver and the Wyoming stateline (in the same landscape position as its Montana representation), on the western slope in the Gunnison Basin and in the northwestern part of the state. However, the ranges of the component indicator species are extensive, and the association could occur locally throughout the West.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: CO, MT, UT, WY
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684645
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3Q
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 1 Forest & Woodland Class | C01 | 1 |
| Subclass | 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass | S15 | 1.B |
| Formation | 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F008 | 1.B.2 |
| Division | 1.B.2.Nb Rocky Mountain Forest & Woodland Division | D194 | 1.B.2.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.2.Nb.2 Ponderosa Pine - Douglas-fir - Limber Pine Central Rocky Mountain Dry Forest Macrogroup | M501 | 1.B.2.Nb.2 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Nb.2.d Limber Pine - Rocky Mountain Juniper Rocky Mountain Foothill Woodland Group | G209 | 1.B.2.Nb.2.d |
| Alliance | A3426 Rocky Mountain Juniper - Utah Juniper / Shrub Understory Central Rocky Mountain Woodland Alliance | A3426 | 1.B.2.Nb.2.d |
| Association | CEGL000743 Rocky Mountain Juniper / Big Sagebrush Woodland | CEGL000743 | 1.B.2.Nb.2.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Juniperus scopulorum - Artemisia tridentata - Bouteloua gracilis Vegetation Type (Jennings 1979)
< Juniperus scopulorum / Agropyron spicatum Plant Association (DeVelice et al. 1995) [2 of 3 plots had high cover of Artemisia tridentata.]
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Community Type (DeVelice 1992)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Community Type (Cooper et al. 1995)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Hess 1981)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Hess and Alexander 1986)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Wasser and Hess 1982)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Plant Association (Johnston 1987)
< Juniperus scopulorum / Agropyron spicatum Plant Association (DeVelice et al. 1995) [2 of 3 plots had high cover of Artemisia tridentata.]
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Community Type (DeVelice 1992)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Community Type (Cooper et al. 1995)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Hess 1981)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Hess and Alexander 1986)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Habitat Type (Wasser and Hess 1982)
= Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia tridentata Plant Association (Johnston 1987)
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- WNDD [Wyoming Natural Diversity Database]. No date. Unpublished data on file. Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.
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