Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Spike Fescue - Field Locoweed Grassland

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This is a minor type occurring at 2895-2990 m (9500-9800 feet) elevation on moderate to steep slopes, generally with warm aspects. Extensive stands of this type occur only in the Beaverhead and Tendoy mountains, Montana, the westernmost and driest part of the study area. Although not particularly windswept, these areas receive little precipitation, and snowmelt occurs early. This community most often occurs in a mosaic with ~Festuca idahoensis - (Festuca campestris) / Potentilla diversifolia Grassland (CEGL001623)$$ and Carex elynoides turf communities. It occurs in stonier soils than other grassland types and at lower elevations than turf communities. Subalpine grasslands and shrublands dominated by Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana generally occur at lower elevations. Mean graminoid cover is 37%. Leucopoa kingii is the dominant grass. Pseudoroegneria spicata and Poa fendleriana are also present. Mean forb cover is 23%. Common forbs include Oxytropis campestris, Phlox hoodii, Erigeron compositus, and Cymopterus nivalis. The subshrub Artemisia frigida is a minor component, and the shrubs Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus are minor components in the lowest elevation stands that border subalpine shrublands. Mean cover of lichens and mosses is less than 1%. This community occurs only on soils derived from calcareous parent material, either limestone or Beaverhead conglomerate. Bare ground and gravel cover 21% of the surface, and rock cover averages 9%. This community occurs on the shallowest, stoniest, and sandiest soils of any grassland type in the area, and organic matter and nitrogen levels are only half of that in the other two grassland community types.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Although Leucopoa kingii occurs throughout much of the western United States, similar alpine grassland associations have only been described for the calcareous ranges of east-central Idaho (Caicco 1983, Moseley 1985, Urbanczyk and Henderson 1994) and northwestern Utah (Preece 1950, Ream 1964). In Idaho where this association is more common, two variants based on differences in soil stability are recognized (Moseley 1985).

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available