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CEGL000352 Hesperocyparis arizonica / Quercus hypoleucoides Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Arizona Cypress / Silverleaf Oak Forest

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This forest association is found on slopes and in drainages in the Dragoon, Santa Catalina, and Chiricahua mountains in southeastern Arizona. Sites tend to be cool and moist with northern or eastern aspects, elevations 1460-1770 m. Dominant trees are Hesperocyparis arizonica, Pinus discolor, Quercus hypoleucoides, Quercus palmeri, and Quercus arizonica. The shrub layer is heavy and diverse. Common shrubs include Quercus rugosa, Arctostaphylos pungens, Cercocarpus montanus, Fendlera rupicola, Garrya wrightii, Ceanothus fendleri, Nolina microcarpa, Fraxinus anomala, and Prunus virginiana. The herbaceous layer is also diverse with many graminoids such as Bouteloua curtipendula, Poa fendleriana, Carex geophila, Koeleria macrantha, Piptochaetium pringlei, Elymus elymoides, Schizachyrium scoparium, Muhlenbergia longiligula, and Muhlenbergia richardsonis. The forb Packera neomexicana is typical. Fires may be important for Hesperocyparis arizonica seed to germinate.

Diagnostic Characteristics: Chaparral or woodlands of elevations less than 1830 m (6000 feet) with Hesperocyparis arizonica mixed with oaks, pinyons and junipers, also lacking significant presence of spruces, firs and Douglas-fir; Quercus hypoleucoides common.

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: Dominant trees are Hesperocyparis arizonica (= Cupressus arizonica), Pinus discolor, Quercus hypoleucoides, Quercus palmeri (= Quercus chrysolepis var. palmeri), and Quercus arizonica. The shrub layer is heavy and diverse. Common shrubs include Quercus rugosa, Arctostaphylos pungens, Cercocarpus montanus, Fendlera rupicola, Garrya wrightii, Ceanothus fendleri, Nolina microcarpa, Fraxinus anomala, and Prunus virginiana. The herbaceous layer is also diverse with many graminoids such as Bouteloua curtipendula, Poa fendleriana, Carex geophila, Koeleria macrantha, Piptochaetium pringlei (= Stipa pringlei), Elymus elymoides (= Sitanion hystrix), Schizachyrium scoparium, Muhlenbergia longiligula, and Muhlenbergia richardsonis. The forb Packera neomexicana (= Senecio neomexicanus) is typical.

Dynamics:  Mosaic patterns of different aged stands of uniform height and density are due to the patchy nature of surface fires which typically kill some but not all trees. Seedlings and saplings (diameters <10 cm [4 inches]) have almost no resistance to even low-intensity surface fires. Surface fire may kill all seeds in cones on the ground (Parker 1980a). Larger trees also exhibit little fire resistance. Crown fires may actually open cones on the tree, killing a portion of the seeds in the cone.

For Arizona cypress, too frequent fires can wipe out a grove, yet fire is needed sometime in its history to produce conditions for reproduction. Moir (1982) suggested that low-intensity surface fires with a frequency of 50 to 60 years serve to thin out Mexican pinyon thickets which could eventually exclude Arizona cypress. Fire frequencies exceeding 80 years may allow fuel buildup and produce a shift in dominance patterns from those species that are maintained by recurrent fire (Swetnam et al. 1989).
Environmental Description:  This forest association is found on slopes and in drainages in the Dragoon, Santa Catalina, and Chiricahua mountains in southeastern Arizona. Sites tend to be cool and moist with northern or eastern aspects, elevations 1460-1770 m.
Geographic Range: This association is restricted to cool and moist slopes and drainages with northern or eastern aspects, at elevations of 1460-1770 m in the Dragoon, Santa Catalina, and Chiricahua mountains in southeastern Arizona. Stands tend to be small, occurring in pockets of habitat.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AZ


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2

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.1 Warm Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation F018 1.B.1
Division 1.B.1.Nd Madrean-Balconian Forest & Woodland Division D060 1.B.1.Nd
Macrogroup 1.B.1.Nd.2 Chihuahuan Pine - Douglas-fir / Silverleaf Oak Madrean Montane Forest & Woodland Macrogroup M011 1.B.1.Nd.2
Group 1.B.1.Nd.2.a Apache Pine - Chihuahuan Pine - Arizona Pine Forest & Woodland Group G203 1.B.1.Nd.2.a
Alliance A0163 Arizona Cypress Forest & Woodland Alliance A0163 1.B.1.Nd.2.a
Association CEGL000352 Arizona Cypress / Silverleaf Oak Forest CEGL000352 1.B.1.Nd.2.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < 123.521 Cupressus arizonica arizonica Association (Brown 1982a)
= Cupressus arizonica / Quercus hypoleucoides (Stuever and Hayden 1997b)
= Cupressus arizonica / Quercus hypoleucoides Plant Association (Bassett et al. 1987)
< Arizona Cypress - Shrub Live Oak Association (Carmichael et al. 1978)
< Cypress Canyon Forest (Niering and Lowe 1984)
Concept Author(s): M.C. Stuever and J.S. Hayden (1997b)

Author of Description: K.A. Schulz

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 10-16-18
  • Bassett, D., M. Larson, and W. Moir. 1987. Forest and woodland habitat types of Arizona south of the Mogollon Rim and southwestern New Mexico. Edition 2. USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Albuquerque, NM.
  • 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.
  • Brown, D. E., editor. 1982a. Biotic communities of the American Southwest-United States and Mexico. Desert Plants Special Issue 4(1-4):1-342.
  • Carmichael, R. S., O. D. Knipe, C. P. Pase, and W. W. Brady. 1978. Arizona chaparral: Plant associations and ecology. Research Paper RM-202. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 16 pp.
  • Moir, W. H. 1982. A fire history of the high Chisos, Big Bend National Park, Texas. Southwest Naturalist 27:87-98.
  • Niering, W. A., and C. H. Lowe. 1984. Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Community types and dynamics. Vegetatio 58:3-28.
  • Parker, A. J. 1980a. The successional status of Cupressus arizonica. Great Basin Naturalist 40(3):254-264.
  • Parker, A. J. 1980b. Site preferences and community characteristics of Cupressus arizonica Greene (Cupressacaeae) in southeastern Arizona. Southwestern Naturalist 25(1):9-22.
  • Stuever, M. C., and J. S. Hayden. 1997b. Plant associations of Arizona and New Mexico. Volume 2: Woodlands. USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Habitat Typing Guides. 196 pp.
  • Swetnam, T. W., C. H. Baisan, P. M. C. Brown, and A. Caprio. 1989. Fire history of Rhyolite Canyon, Chiricahua National Monument. Technical Report No. 32. USDI National Park Service, Cooperative Studies Unit, Tucson, AZ.
  • USFS [U.S. Forest Service]. 1986. Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of southern New Mexico and central Arizona (north of the Mogollon Rim). USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Albuquerque, NM. Second edition, 140 pp. plus insert.
  • USFS [U.S. Forest Service]. 1987b. Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of Arizona south of the Mogollon Rim and southwestern New Mexico. USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Albuquerque, NM. Second edition, 168 pp. plus insert.
  • Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.