Print Report

CEGL002592 Aquilegia micrantha - Calamagrostis scopulorum Hanging Garden

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Mancos Columbine - Ditch Reedgrass Hanging Garden

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association is confined to seeps emerging from sandstone cliffs in the Colorado Plateau and lower elevation canyons in adjacent southern Rocky Mountains where it may occur on metamorphic substrates. Elevations are below 2000 m. Aspect is not important in determining the distribution of this association. Instead, seeps will tend to occur on the side of the canyon where gravity and hydrology combine to force groundwater out. The unvegetated surface often has high cover of bare soil, sometimes coated with a white calcareous crust or bedrock. For the most part, soils are derived from dissolution of sandstone grains and fragments from adjacent slopes and ledges and are saturated year-round from water seeping between sedimentary rock layers. In the case of a stand in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a north-facing alcove with a seep and overhanging ledge is cut into Black Canyon schist and gneiss. Total vegetation cover ranges from 20 to 75% and is characterized by clumps of Calamagrostis scopulorum and Aquilegia micrantha. In drier gardens, Schizachyrium scoparium may be dominant. Other herbaceous species occurring frequently in this association include Zigadenus vaginatus, Epipactis gigantea, Platanthera zothecina, Cirsium ownbeyi, Petrophytum caespitosum, Dodecatheon pulchellum, Clematis ligusticifolia, Solidago nana, Pellaea glabella, Zigadenus elegans, and Solidago velutina. There is no developed shrub or tree layer, but most occurrences include scattered woody plants such as Pinus edulis, Amelanchier utahensis, Prunus virginiana, Paxistima myrsinites, Cercocarpus intricatus, Glossopetalon spinescens var. meionandrum, Betula occidentalis, Brickellia sp., Ericameria sp., Symphoricarpos rotundifolius, Holodiscus dumosus, and Rhus trilobata.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This association is part of a complex of herbaceous communities collectively known as "hanging gardens." Few systematic studies of these communities have been completed (e.g., Welsh and Toft 1981, Welsh 1989, Fowler 1995), and even fewer quantitative data are available, partly because stands can be difficult or dangerous to access. The National Park Service is undertaking systematic surveys of vegetation, particularly spring and seep communities, throughout the Colorado Plateau (Evenden pers. comm. 2005). As more data become available, the various hanging garden associations should be revisited. John Spence, botanist at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, is reported to be in the process of publishing a comprehensive study and classification of hanging gardens in the Colorado Plateau (J. Spence pers. comm. 2005).

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This association is confined to seeps emerging from sandstone cliffs in the Colorado Plateau. Total vegetation cover ranges from 20 to 75% and is characterized by clumps of Calamagrostis scopulorum and Aquilegia micrantha. In drier gardens, Schizachyrium scoparium may be dominant. Forbs often present include Adiantum capillus-veneris, Zigadenus vaginatus (= Anticlea vaginata), Aquilegia micrantha, Castilleja linariifolia, Cirsium ownbeyi, Cirsium rydbergii, Dodecatheon pulchellum, Epipactis gigantea, Equisetum hyemale, Eurybia glauca, Hedeoma drummondii, Lobelia cardinalis, Mimulus eastwoodiae, Oenothera elata, Petrophytum caespitosum, Platanthera zothecina, Primula specuicola, Solidago nana, Solidago velutina, Zigadenus elegans, and Zigadenus vaginatus. Some ferns have been reported from spring-fed locations, such as Pellaea glabella. Graminoids are also abundant, including Andropogon glomeratus, Calamagrostis scopulorum, Carex aurea, Carex curatorum, Juncus ensifolius, Muhlenbergia andina, Muhlenbergia thurberi, Dichanthelium acuminatum (= Panicum acuminatum), Panicum virgatum, Phragmites australis, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans. Woody plants that may be present include Clematis ligusticifolia, Mahonia repens, Petrophytum caespitosum, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Frangula betulifolia (= Rhamnus betulifolia), and Yucca angustissima var. toftiae (= Yucca toftiae). There is no developed shrub or tree layer, but most occurrences include scattered woody plants such as Pinus edulis, Amelanchier utahensis, Prunus virginiana, Paxistima myrsinites, Cercocarpus intricatus, Glossopetalon spinescens var. meionandrum, Betula occidentalis, Brickellia sp., Ericameria sp., Symphoricarpos rotundifolius, Holodiscus dumosus, and Rhus trilobata.

Dynamics:  The viability of this association is dependent on a steady supply of groundwater seepage throughout the growing season. Few examples observed had flowing water, but most had moist soil, and some had water dripping from the alcove roof.
Environmental Description:  This hanging garden association occurs on ledges and in crevices and alcoves in near-vertical sandstone canyon walls in southeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado and in Black Canyon on the Gunnison metamorphic substrate in west-central Colorado. Elevations are below 2000 m. Sandy soils that accumulate in the cliff crevices or at the bases of canyon alcoves are saturated year-round from water seeping between sedimentary rock layers or in the case of Black Canyon, a north-facing alcove with a seep and overhanging ledge is cut into Black Canyon schist and gneiss. Aspect is not important in determining the distribution of this association. Instead, seeps will tend to occur on the side of the canyon where gravity and hydrology combine to force water out. The unvegetated surface often has high cover of bare soil, sometimes coated with a white calcareous crust or bedrock. For the most part, soils are derived from dissolution of sandstone grains and fragments from adjacent slopes and ledges.
Geographic Range: This association has been documented from the Colorado Plateau and Uinta Basin of western Colorado and eastern Utah. It may also occur at Zion National Park (Malanson 1980, 1982), although it was not documented there during a recent (2003) NPS vegetation mapping effort.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  CO, UT


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class C02 2
Subclass 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass S44 2.C
Formation 2.C.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation F013 2.C.4
Division 2.C.4.Nc Southwestern North American Warm Desert Freshwater Marsh & Bosque Division D032 2.C.4.Nc
Macrogroup 2.C.4.Nc.1 Warm Desert Lowland Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup M076 2.C.4.Nc.1
Group 2.C.4.Nc.1.a Maidenhair Fern species - Monkeyflower species - Columbine species Colorado Plateau Seep Group G545 2.C.4.Nc.1.a
Alliance A2506 Mancos Columbine Hanging Garden Alliance A2506 2.C.4.Nc.1.a
Association CEGL002592 Mancos Columbine - Ditch Reedgrass Hanging Garden CEGL002592 2.C.4.Nc.1.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Foot-Wall (Welsh and Toft 1981) [(p. 674)]
Concept Author(s): S.L. Welsh and C.A. Toft (1981)

Author of Description: J. Coles, K.A. Schulz and G. Kittel

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 09-01-16
  • Coles, J., A. Tendick, J. Von Loh, G. Bradshaw, G. Manis, A. Wight, G. Wakefield, and A. Evenden. 2010. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCPN/NRTR--2010/361. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO.
  • Coles, J., D. Cogan, D. Salas, A. Wight, G. Wakefield, J. Von Loh, and A. Evenden. 2008a. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Dinosaur National Monument. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCPN/NRTR-2008/112. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 814 pp.
  • Coles, J., J. Von Loh, A. Evenden, G. Manis, G. Wakefield. and A. Wight. 2008c. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Natural Bridges National Monument. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCPN/NRTR--2008/077. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 390 pp.
  • Evenden, Angela. Personal communication. Northern Colorado Plateau Network Vegetation Program Manager, Canyon Country Research Learning Center, Moab, UT.
  • Fowler, J. F. 1995. Biogeography of hanging gardens on the Colorado Plateau. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. 209 pp plus abstract, appendices.
  • Malanson, G. P. 1980. Habitat and plant distributions in hanging gardens of the Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 40(2):178-182.
  • Malanson, G. P. 1982. The assembly of hanging gardens: Effects of age, area, and location. The American Naturalist 119:145-150.
  • Spence, J. Personal communication. Botanist, National Park Service, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Glen Canyon, UT.
  • Tendick, A., J. Spence, M. Reid, K. Shulz, G. Kittel, K. Green, A. Wight, and G. Wakefield. 2017. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Natural Resource Report NPS/NCPN/NRR—2017/1500. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 1464 pp.
  • Welsh, S. L. 1989. On the distribution of Utah''s hanging gardens. Great Basin Naturalist 49(1):1-30.
  • Welsh, S. L., and C. A. Toft. 1981. Biotic communities of hanging gardens in southeastern Utah. National Geographic Society Research Reports 13:663-681.
  • Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.