Print Report

CEGL001863 Carex rupestris - Trifolium dasyphyllum Alpine Turf

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Curly Sedge - Alpine Clover Alpine Turf

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This southern Rocky Mountain association is found in upland subalpine and alpine environments along the Continental Divide and east of the divide in the Front Range. Sites are typically dry meadows and alpine turf at middle to lower alpine and around treeline often in transition areas with fell-fields. Stands often occur on flat and convex mid to upper slopes that are moderate to somewhat steep (20-40%), often in saddles (5-10%), that are moderately exposed to prevailing winds that keep sites snow free most of the winter. Aspects are variable. Substrates are moderately shallow, well-drained gravelly to cobbly, silty to sandy loams. There is often moderate cover of large and small surface rocks and bare ground, especially in transition areas with fell-fields. Sites are less mesic and soils coarser and less developed than Kobresia myosuroides-dominated alpine turf. Vegetation of this alpine turf association is characterized by a moderately dense to dense (>50% cover) herbaceous layer dominated by Carex rupestris with Trifolium dasyphyllum and Geum rossii codominant. Other important species with lower cover include graminoids Elymus scribneri, Calamagrostis purpurascens, Carex elynoides, Danthonia intermedia, Festuca brachyphylla, Poa glauca ssp. rupicola, Trisetum spicatum, and forbs Arenaria fendleri, Artemisia scopulorum, Tonestus pygmaeus, Oreoxis alpina, and Sedum stenopetalum. Minuartia obtusiloba, Paronychia pulvinata, Silene acaulis, and other cushion plants are more evident in this turf. Cover of mat-forming dwarf-shrubs, such as Artemisia arctica ssp. arctica and Paronychia pulvinata, and moss and lichen is significant in some 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: Vegetation of this alpine turf association is characterized by a moderately dense to dense (>50% cover) herbaceous layer dominated by Carex rupestris with Trifolium dasyphyllum and Geum rossii codominant. Other important species with lower cover include graminoids Elymus scribneri (= Agropyron scribneri), Calamagrostis purpurascens, Carex elynoides, Danthonia intermedia, Festuca brachyphylla, Poa glauca ssp. rupicola (= Poa rupicola), Trisetum spicatum, and forbs Arenaria fendleri, Artemisia scopulorum, Tonestus pygmaeus (= Haplopappus pygmaeus), Oreoxis alpina, and Sedum stenopetalum. Minuartia obtusiloba (= Arenaria obtusiloba), Paronychia pulvinata, Silene acaulis, and other cushion plants are more evident in this turf. Cover of mat-forming dwarf-shrubs, such as Artemisia arctica ssp. arctica and Paronychia pulvinata, and moss and lichen is significant in some stands.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This southern Rocky Mountain association is found in upland subalpine and alpine environments between the elevations of 3500 and 3800 m (11,475-12460 feet) along the Continental Divide and east of the divide in the Front Range. Sites are typically dry meadows and alpine turf at middle to lower alpine and around treeline often in transition areas with fell-fields. Stands often occur on flat and convex mid to upper slopes that are moderate to somewhat steep (20-40%), often in saddles (5-10%), that are moderately exposed to prevailing winds that keep sites snow free most of the winter. Aspects are variable. Substrates are moderately shallow, well-drained gravelly to cobbly, silty to sandy loams. Soils are minimally developed and are classified as loamy-skeletal mixed Typic Cryorthents with pH 5.8-6.2. Parent material are often granite and gneiss colluvium. There is often moderate cover of large and small surface rocks and bare ground, especially in transition areas with fell-fields. Sites are less mesic and soils coarser and less developed than Kobresia myosuroides-dominated alpine turf.
Geographic Range: This southern Rocky Mountain dry alpine turf association is found in upland subalpine and alpine environments in north-central Colorado along the Continental Divide and on the Front Range.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  CO, UT?


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3G4

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 4 Polar & High Montane Scrub, Grassland & Barrens Class C04 4
Subclass 4.B Temperate to Polar Alpine & Tundra Vegetation Subclass S12 4.B
Formation 4.B.1 Temperate & Boreal Alpine Tundra Formation F037 4.B.1
Division 4.B.1.Nb Western North American Alpine Tundra Division D043 4.B.1.Nb
Macrogroup 4.B.1.Nb.2 Eight-petal Mountain-avens - Blackroot Sedge - Moss Campion Alpine Tundra Macrogroup M099 4.B.1.Nb.2
Group 4.B.1.Nb.2.b Blackroot Sedge - Bellardi Bog Sedge - Cushion Phlox Alpine Turf & Fell-field Group G314 4.B.1.Nb.2.b
Alliance A3155 Blackroot Sedge - Curly Sedge - Bellardi Bog Sedge Rocky Mountain Alpine Turf Alliance A3155 4.B.1.Nb.2.b
Association CEGL001863 Curly Sedge - Alpine Clover Alpine Turf CEGL001863 4.B.1.Nb.2.b
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Carex rupestris / Trifolium dasyphyllum Habitat Type (Hess 1981)
= Carex rupestris / Trifolium dasyphyllum Habitat Type (Hess and Wasser 1982)
= Carex rupestris / Trifolium dasyphyllum Habitat Type (Wasser and Hess 1982)
= Carex rupestris / Trifolium dasyphyllum Plant Association (Johnston 1987)
< Carex rupestris Alpine Turf Ecosystems (Marr and Willard 1970) [one of 3 ecosystems (others types are Kobresia myosuroides- or Carex elynoides-dominated).]
< Carex rupestris Turf Ecosystem (Willard and Marr 1970)
= Carex rupestris plant community (Scott-Williams 1965) [community of intermediate soils between fellfield and Kobresia myosuroides turf. Text mentions Trifolium dasyphyllum, but not Geum rossii.]
>< Potentillo - Caricetum rupestris (Willard 1979)
>< Trifolium dasyphyllum - Silene acaulis; dry fellfield (May 1973) [2 plots (#21, 22) are codominated by Carex rupestris.]
< Alpine Tundra (Whitfield 1933) [reports Carex rupestris as an important subdominant in disturbed areas.]
>< Fellfield (May and Webber 1982) [This type lists Carex rupestris, Trifolium dasyphyllum, and Geum rossii as codominants with Silene acaulis and may include transitional stands of this association.]
Concept Author(s): Western Ecology Group

Author of Description: K.A. Schulz

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 12-01-04
  • 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.
  • CNHP [Colorado Natural Heritage Program]. 2006-2017. Tracked natural plant communities. Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. [https://cnhp.colostate.edu/ourdata/trackinglist/plant_communities/]
  • Hess, K. 1981. Phyto-edaphic study of habitat types of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado. Unpublished dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. 558 pp.
  • Hess, K., and C. H. Wasser. 1982. Grassland, shrubland, and forest habitat types of the White River-Arapaho National Forest. Unpublished final report 53-82 FT-1-19. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 335 pp.
  • Johnston, B. C. 1987. Plant associations of Region Two: Potential plant communities of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. R2-ECOL-87-2. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Lakewood, CO. 429 pp.
  • Marr, J. W., and B. E. Willard. 1970. Persisting vegetation in an alpine recreation area in the southern Rocky Mountains Colorado. Biological Conservation 2:97-104.
  • May, D. E. 1973. Models for predicting composition and production of alpine tundra vegetation from Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Unpublished thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder. 99 pp.
  • May, D. E., and P. J. Webber. 1982. Spatial and temporal variation of the vegetation and its productivity, Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Pages 35-62 in: Ecological studies in the Colorado alpine. University of Colorado Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. Occasional Paper 37, Boulder, CO.
  • Salas, D., J. Stevens, and K. Schulz. 2005. USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Technical Memorandum No. 8260-05-02. USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, CO. 161 pp. plus Appendices A-L (733 pp.).
  • Scott-Williams, B. W. 1965. The ecology of the alpine tundra on Trail Ridge. Pages 13-16 in: C. B. Schulz and H. T. Smith, editors. Guidebook for one-day field conferences -- Boulder area, Colorado. VIIth International Association for Quaternary Research Congress, Nebraska Academy of Science, Lincoln, NE.
  • Wasser, C. H., and K. Hess. 1982. The habitat types of Region II. USDA Forest Service: A synthesis. Final report prepared for USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 140 pp.
  • Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.
  • Whitfield, C. J. 1933. The vegetation of the Pike''s Peak region. Ecological Monographs 3:75-105.
  • Willard, B. E. 1979. Plant sociology of alpine tundra, Trail Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Colorado School of Mines Quarterly 74(4):1-119.
  • Willard, B. E., and J. W. Marr. 1970. Effects of human activities on alpine tundra ecosystems in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Biological Conservation 2:257-265.