Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Wyoming Big Sagebrush / Pine Needlegrass Shrubland

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This shrubland association is based on 12 plots from Curecanti National Recreation Area in the Gunnison River Valley in western Colorado. This shrubland association occurs on slopes of ridges, saddles, hills, plains and valleys. Sites are level to moderately steep (1-46% slopes), occur between 2308 and 2414 m elevation, and are oriented to all aspects. The unvegetated surface has moderate cover of litter, bare soil, and gravel. Downed wood may have low to moderate cover. Parent materials include Mesozoic sandstone and shale, metamorphic/granitic rocks and Tertiary volcanic rocks. Soils are rapidly drained loams and loamy sands and sandy clay loams. The vegetation is characterized by an open to dense (10-75% cover) short-shrub canopy (to 1 m tall) dominated by Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis, with the bunchgrass Achnatherum pinetorum dominant in a patchy open herbaceous layer. Other shrub species present include Gutierrezia sarothrae, Chrysothamnus depressus, and Symphoricarpos oreophilus, and the succulent Opuntia polyacantha. The herbaceous layer is diverse and provides low to moderate cover. Associated graminoids include Achnatherum hymenoides, Poa fendleriana, and Elymus elymoides. Forbs are also diverse and provide sparse cover, including Phlox hoodii, Antennaria parvifolia, Erigeron concinnus, and Penstemon teucrioides. Species of moss and crustose lichen provide sparse to moderate cover.

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