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CEGL005234 Sporobolus heterolepis - Schizachyrium scoparium - (Carex scirpoidea) / (Juniperus horizontalis) Grassland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Prairie Dropseed - Little Bluestem - (Northern Single-spike Sedge) / (Creeping Juniper) Grassland

Colloquial Name: Little Bluestem Alvar Grassland

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: The little bluestem alvar grassland type is found primarily in the upper Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, in northern Michigan and in Ontario. These grasslands occur on very shallow, patchy soils (usually less than 20 cm deep, average is about 6 cm deep) on flat limestone and dolostone outcrops (pavements). Soils are loams high in organic matter. This community often has a characteristic soil moisture regime of alternating wet and dry periods; they can have wet, saturated soils in spring and fall, combined with summer drought in most years (except unusually wet years). In large patches over 50 acres (20 ha) this grassland often occurs as a small-scale matrix, with smaller patches of other alvar communities occurring within the larger patch of little bluestem alvar grassland, forming a landscape mosaic. The vegetation is dominated by grasses and sedges, which usually have at least 50% cover. Characteristic species of the grassland are Sporobolus heterolepis, Schizachyrium scoparium, Carex scirpoidea, Deschampsia cespitosa, Packera paupercula, and Carex crawei. There is usually less than 10% cover of shrubs over 0.5 m tall; however, there may be as much as 50% cover of dwarf-shrubs (under 0.5 m tall), especially Juniperus horizontalis. This dwarf-shrub is shorter than the dominant grasses, and usually is found under the canopy of grasses, so the physiognomic type is here considered a grassland (in spite of relatively high cover of dwarf-shrubs). Less than 50% of the ground surface is exposed bedrock (including bedrock covered with nonvascular plants: lichens, mosses, algae).

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: The most commonly associated alvar communities that occur with this community in a landscape mosaic are Creeping Juniper - Shrubby-cinquefoil Alvar Pavement Shrubland, ~Juniperus horizontalis - Dasiphora fruticosa / Schizachyrium scoparium - Carex richardsonii Dwarf-shrubland (CEGL005236)$$; Tufted Hairgrass Wet Alvar Grassland, ~Deschampsia cespitosa - (Sporobolus heterolepis, Schizachyrium scoparium) - Carex crawei - Packera paupercula Grassland (CEGL005110)$$; Alvar Nonvascular Pavement, ~Tortella tortuosa - Cladonia pocillum - Placynthium spp. Sparse Vegetation (CEGL005192)$$; and White-cedar - Jack Pine / Shrubby-cinquefoil Alvar Savanna, ~Thuja occidentalis - Pinus banksiana / Dasiphora fruticosa / Clinopodium arkansanum Wooded Grassland (CEGL005132)$$ (Reschke et al. 1998).

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The vegetation is dominated by grasses and sedges, which usually have at least 50% cover. Characteristic species of the grassland are Sporobolus heterolepis, Schizachyrium scoparium, Carex scirpoidea, Deschampsia cespitosa, Packera paupercula (= Senecio pauperculus), and Carex crawei. There is usually less than 10% cover of shrubs over 0.5 m tall; however there may be as much as 50% cover of dwarf-shrubs (under 0.5 m tall), especially Juniperus horizontalis. This dwarf-shrub is shorter than the dominant grasses, and usually is found under the canopy of grasses, so the physiognomic type here is considered a grassland (in spite of relatively high cover of dwarf-shrubs). Less than 50% of the ground surface is exposed bedrock (including bedrock covered with nonvascular plants: lichens, mosses, algae).

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  These grasslands occur on very shallow, patchy soils (usually less than 20 cm deep, average is about 6 cm deep) on flat limestone and dolostone outcrops (pavements). Soils are loams high in organic matter. This community often has a characteristic soil moisture regime of alternating wet and dry periods; they can have wet, saturated soils in spring and fall, combined with summer drought in most years (except unusually wet years). In large patches over 50 acres (20 ha) this grassland often occurs as a small-scale matrix, with smaller patches of other alvar communities occurring within the larger patch of little bluestem alvar grassland, forming a landscape mosaic (Reschke et al. 1998).
Geographic Range: The little bluestem alvar grassland type is found primarily in the upper Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, in northern Michigan, and in Ontario on Manitoulin Island and vicinity, on the Bruce Peninsula, and at a few sites further east in the Carden Plain and Burnt Lands.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  MI, ON


Confidence Level: High

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2

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.Nc Eastern North American Grassland & Shrubland Division D024 2.B.2.Nc
Macrogroup 2.B.2.Nc.5 Shrubby-cinquefoil - Bristleleaf Sedge Calcareous Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup M507 2.B.2.Nc.5
Group 2.B.2.Nc.5.a Little Bluestem - Prairie Dropseed - Common Juniper Alvar Grassland & Shrubland Group G061 2.B.2.Nc.5.a
Alliance A3104 Prairie Dropseed - Tufted Hairgrass / Shrubby-cinquefoil Alvar Grassland Alliance A3104 2.B.2.Nc.5.a
Association CEGL005234 Prairie Dropseed - Little Bluestem - (Northern Single-spike Sedge) / (Creeping Juniper) Grassland CEGL005234 2.B.2.Nc.5.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Sporobolus heterolepis - Schizachyrium scoparium - (Carex scirpoidea) / (Juniperus horizontalis) Herbaceous Vegetation (Reschke et al. 1998)
= Sporobolus heterolepis - Schizachyrium scoparium - (Carex scirpoidea) / (Juniperus horizontalis) Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
Concept Author(s): C. Reschke et al. (1998)

Author of Description: C. Reschke

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 04-22-99
  • 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.).
  • Kost, M. A., D. A. Albert, J. G. Cohen, B. S. Slaughter, R. K. Schillo, C. R. Weber, and K. A. Chapman. 2007. Natural communities of Michigan: Classification and description. Report No. 2007-21, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing. 314 pp. [http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/reports/2007-21_Natural_Communites_of_Michigan_Classification_and_Description.pdf]
  • Lee, H., W. Bakowsky, J. Riley, J. Bowles, M. Puddister, P. Uhlig, and S. McMurray. 1998. Ecological land classification for southern Ontario: First approximation and its application. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Southcentral Science Section, Science Development and Transfer Branch. SCSS Field Guide FG-02.
  • Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
  • ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.
  • Reschke, C., R. Reid, J. Jones, T. Feeney, and H. Potter, on behalf of the Alvar Working Group. 1998. Conserving Great Lakes Alvars. Final Technical Report of the International Alvar Conservation Initiative. The Nature Conservancy, Great Lakes Program, Chicago, IL. 119 pp. plus 4 appendices.