Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Kinnikinnick / Rough Fescue - Idaho Fescue Dwarf-shrubland

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This dwarf-shrubland type is found in the montane to mid-alpine zones of the northern Rockies in northwestern Montana, and extending north into the montane zone of Alberta. The elevation where it occurs ranges almost 790 m (2600 feet), from 1340 to 2130 m (4400-7000 feet), essentially ranging from the montane to the mid-alpine. It occurs on moderate to steep slopes with predominantly southerly exposures, though it has been found on all aspects. This dwarf-shrubland is associated with positions that can be inferred to be wind-battered. It has been recorded exclusively from sedimentary substrates, predominantly limestones and siltstones. These have weathered into thin, fine-textured, and well- to excessively drained soils whose water regime is characterized as predominantly subxeric. The inference that these are stressful sites is borne out in the species composition and structure with the dwarf-shrub Arctostaphylos uva-ursi functioning as the community dominant and other low-shrubs, Juniperus horizontalis, Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Rosa woodsii, and Juniperus communis, being common associates. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi cover ranges from about 5% to as high as 70%, averaging about 30%. Arctostaphylos cover appears to be loosely inversely correlated with cover of the dominant (and diagnostic) grasses, Festuca campestris and Festuca idahoensis, whose average canopy cover hovers around 20-25% and 2-5%, respectively. The only other graminoids with even moderate constancy are Koeleria macrantha and Agoseris glauca, with cover seldom exceeding 5%. High cover values (>30%) for Danthonia parryi characterize higher elevation and relatively mesic stands. Other graminoids present and associated with severe high-elevation sites include Calamagrostis purpurascens and Carex elynoides. The forb component is highly diverse, though individual stands are not as diverse. Forbs present in at least half the stands include Oxytropis sericea, Penstemon confertus, Packera cana, Sedum lanceolatum, Zigadenus elegans, Hedysarum sulphurescens, Galium boreale, Lupinus sericeus, Erigeron caespitosus, Gaillardia aristata, Allium cernuum, Achillea millefolium, and Fragaria virginiana. Cover for any of these is typically low, except the cover of Lupinus sericeus and Hedysarum sulphurescens which tends to exceed 5%.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This is a newly defined type for the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (Hop et al. 2007). Apparently it is common in the montane zone of Alberta. Types considered synonymous with this one include Festuca scabrella - Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Festuca scabrella - Carex obtusata / Arctostaphylos uva-ursi from Waterton National Park (Achuff et al. 2002a) and Alberta''s montane subregion (Willoughby et al. 2001). Several of the plots used to substantiate the type had also been classified as Agropyron spicatum - Festuca scabrella (Achuff et al. 2002a), and the others were collected in the course of the Glacier-Waterton Mapping Project. A vegetation type comparable in environment (wind-exposed southerly exposures in the subalpine and alpine) has been described from the North Cascades of Washington and British Columbia (Douglas and Bliss 1977), but there the type is characterized by the dominance of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi with only traces of grasses and forbs.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available