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CEGL001498 Purshia tridentata / Hesperostipa comata Shrub Grassland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Antelope Bitterbrush / Needle-and-Thread Shrub Grassland
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This plant association is known from the Intermountain West, from western Idaho, eastern Washington, Oregon, and southern Utah. The association occurs on gently sloped sand to well-drained silty clay loams located from 152 to 2649 m (500-8691 feet) elevation. Dispersed Purshia tridentata forms an open shrub canopy (with an average 20% canopy cover) over an herbaceous layer dominated by Hesperostipa comata (averaging >50% cover). Ericameria nauseosa and Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus are occasionally present and increase in cover with disturbance. Poa secunda is usually also present in the understory and occurs with 20-50% cover. Additional bunchgrasses, Poa secunda and Poa fendleriana, also may occur in the graminoid layer, with 20-50% cover. Other abundant perennial grasses may include Achnatherum hymenoides, Koeleria macrantha, and Elymus lanceolatus. The perennial forb layer may include Lithophragma glabrum, Linanthus pungens, Chenopodium atrovirens, Chenopodium leptophyllum, and Potentilla crinita. A cryptogamic layer is well-developed in the most undisturbed stands.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: No Data Available
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The broad-leaved semi-evergreen shrub Purshia tridentata is scattered (averaging 10-20% cover) over an herbaceous layer dominated by the 0.5-m tall perennial bunchgrass Hesperostipa comata (= Stipa comata) (averaging 15-50% cover). The evergreen microphyllous shrubs Ericameria nauseosa (= Chrysothamnus nauseosus), Ericameria parryi (= Chrysothamnus parryi), Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, Chrysothamnus depressus, Tetradymia canescens, and Artemisia nova, some of which are known to increase in cover with disturbance, may also occur. Additional bunchgrasses, Poa secunda and Poa fendleriana, occur in the graminoid layer, with 20-50% cover. Other abundant perennial grasses may include Achnatherum hymenoides (= Oryzopsis hymenoides), Koeleria macrantha, and Elymus lanceolatus. The perennial forb layer may include Lithophragma glabrum, Linanthus pungens (= Leptodactylon pungens), Chenopodium atrovirens, Chenopodium leptophyllum, and Potentilla crinita. A cryptogamic layer is well-developed in the most undisturbed stands. The introduced annual grass Bromus tectorum and annual forb Plantago patagonica are invaders and increasers in stands of this association disturbed by grazing. Most stands in Oregon have been converted to a Bromus tectorum-dominated vegetation type.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This association occurs in the western Columbia Plateau (western Idaho, eastern Washington, Oregon) and southern Utah High Plateau Ecoregions (southern Utah). In the Columbia Plateau, loess is thick in some portions of the region, and alluvial deposits of variable parent materials are patchy along streams and rivers. Thick mantles of sand from periodically glacially dammed lakes cover some portions of the region. In other areas, valleys and canyons (coulees) have been deeply scoured into the basalt by glacial flooding. The climate of the region is characterized by a mix of continental and maritime influences. It is in the rainshadow of the Cascades, with annual precipitation between 23 and 51 cm (9-20 inches). Between 55% and 75% of the precipitation falls during October through March as snow, and summers are typically dry. Summer temperatures can be hot, and winters are typically cold. This association occurs on flats to gentle slopes of old sand dunes, from 152 to 2649 m (500-8691 feet) elevation. It often occurs in a patchwork with sand dunes and sandy Palouse grasslands. The soils are deep infertile sands. In the southern Utah High Plateau, climate is drier with greater temperature extremes, at least in the summer. Soils are more silty loams, but are still well drained.
Geographic Range: The association occurs in the western Columbia Plateau and the Utah High Plateau ecoregions. Occurrences are known from Douglas, Franklin and Grant counties, Washington; Morrow County, Oregon; Ada and Payette counties, Idaho; and Garfield and Kane counties, Utah.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687416
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 3 Desert & Semi-Desert Class | C03 | 3 |
| Subclass | 3.B Cool Semi-Desert Scrub & Grassland Subclass | S11 | 3.B |
| Formation | 3.B.1 Cool Semi-Desert Scrub & Grassland Formation | F033 | 3.B.1 |
| Division | 3.B.1.Ne Western North American Cool Semi-Desert Scrub & Grassland Division | D040 | 3.B.1.Ne |
| Macrogroup | 3.B.1.Ne.3 Big Sagebrush - Threetip Sagebrush - Antelope Bitterbrush Steppe & Shrubland Macrogroup | M169 | 3.B.1.Ne.3 |
| Group | 3.B.1.Ne.3.b Basin Big Sagebrush - Threetip Sagebrush - Antelope Bitterbrush Big Sagebrush Steppe & Shrubland Group | G302 | 3.B.1.Ne.3.b |
| Alliance | A3179 Antelope Bitterbrush - Big Sagebrush Mesic Steppe & Shrubland Alliance | A3179 | 3.B.1.Ne.3.b |
| Association | CEGL001498 Antelope Bitterbrush / Needle-and-Thread Shrub Grassland | CEGL001498 | 3.B.1.Ne.3.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Purshia tridentata - Stipa comata Habitat Type (Daubenmire 1970)
= Purshia tridentata / Hesperostipa comata Vegetation Type (Cooper 2003)
= Purshia tridentata / Stipa comata Habitat Type (Hironaka et al. 1983)
= Purshia tridentata and Hesperostipa comata dominated vegetation within the Artemisia-Stipa Habitat Type (Poulton 1955)
= Purshia tridentata / Hesperostipa comata Vegetation Type (Cooper 2003)
= Purshia tridentata / Stipa comata Habitat Type (Hironaka et al. 1983)
= Purshia tridentata and Hesperostipa comata dominated vegetation within the Artemisia-Stipa Habitat Type (Poulton 1955)
- 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.
- Cogan, D., J. E. Taylor, and K. Schulz. 2012. Vegetation inventory project: Great Basin National Park. Natural Resource Report NPS/MOJN/NRR--2012/568. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 373 pp.
- Cooper, S. V. 2003. Assessment of Kootenai National Forest vegetation types with potential for Silene spaldingii in the Tobacco Plains, Rexford Bench and Salish Range foothills. Unpublished report to Kootenai National Forest, Supervisor''s Office. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, MT. 33 pp. plus appendices.
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- Poulton, C. E. 1955. Ecology of the non-forested vegetation in Umatilla and Morrow counties, Oregon. Unpublished dissertation. State College of Washington, Pullman. 166 pp.
- Schulz, K. A., and M. E. Hall. 2011. Vegetation inventory project: Great Basin National Park. Unpublished report submitted to USDI National Park Service, Mojave Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network. NatureServe, Western Regional Office, Boulder, CO. 30 pp. plus Appendices A-H.
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- WNHP [Washington Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data files. Washington Natural Heritage Program, Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA.
- Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.