Print Report

CEGL005320 Pinus flexilis / Cercocarpus montanus - Amelanchier utahensis Woodland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Limber Pine / Alderleaf Mountain-mahogany - Utah Serviceberry Woodland

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This limber pine woodland is only known from Fossil Butte National Monument in southwestern Wyoming. Stands occur on rims and upper slopes of ridges and buttes on gentle to steep (2-41°) slopes on all aspects between 2258 and 2413 m elevation. The unvegetated surface has low exposure of bare soil, moderate to high cover of litter, low to moderate cover of small rocks, low cover of large rocks, and sparse cover of bedrock and dead wood. Soils are moderately well-drained to rapidly drained sandy loams, silts, and clays derived from the Wasatch Formation. This association is characterized by an open to moderately dense tree canopy, typically 10-20 m tall, of Pinus flexilis trees with between 6 and 48% cover, and a shrub-dominated understory consisting primarily of Amelanchier utahensis and Cercocarpus montanus with between 10 and 50% cover. Total vegetation cover ranges from 37 to nearly 100%. Scattered Pseudotsuga menziesii trees occur in the tree canopy of some stands. Some stands have a sparse subcanopy of sapling Pinus flexilis, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Juniperus scopulorum. Associated shrubs include Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, Holodiscus dumosus, Mahonia repens, Prunus virginiana, Ribes cereum, Shepherdia canadensis, and Symphoricarpos oreophilus. The herbaceous layer is diverse but provides little cover. Common grasses include Leymus cinereus, Pascopyrum smithii, Poa fendleriana, and Poa secunda. Forbs include Mertensia oblongifolia, Pteryxia terebinthina), Eriogonum umbellatum, Eriogonum brevicaule, Cirsium undulatum, Achillea millefolium, Lithospermum ruderale, and Trifolium gymnocarpon.

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: This association is characterized by an open to moderately dense tree canopy, typically 10-20 m tall, of Pinus flexilis trees with between 6 and 48% cover, and a shrub-dominated understory consisting primarily of Amelanchier utahensis and Cercocarpus montanus with between 10 and 50% cover. Total vegetation cover ranges from 37 to nearly 100%. Scattered Pseudotsuga menziesii trees occur in the tree canopy of some stands. Some stands have a sparse subcanopy of sapling Pinus flexilis, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Juniperus scopulorum. Associated shrubs include Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, Holodiscus dumosus, Mahonia repens, Prunus virginiana, Ribes cereum, Shepherdia canadensis, and Symphoricarpos oreophilus. The herbaceous layer is diverse but provides little cover. Common grasses include Leymus cinereus, Pascopyrum smithii, Poa fendleriana, and Poa secunda. Forbs include Mertensia oblongifolia, Pteryxia terebinthina (= Cymopterus terebinthinus), Eriogonum umbellatum, Eriogonum brevicaule, Cirsium undulatum, Achillea millefolium, Lithospermum ruderale, and Trifolium gymnocarpon.

Dynamics:  No Data Available

Environmental Description:  This limber pine woodland is only known from Fossil Butte National Monument in southwestern Wyoming. Stands occur on rims and upper slopes of ridges and buttes on gentle to steep (2-41°) slopes on all aspects between 2258 and 2413 m elevation. The unvegetated surface has low exposure of bare soil, moderate to high cover of litter, low to moderate cover of small rocks, low cover of large rocks, and sparse cover of bedrock and dead wood. Soils are moderately well-drained to rapidly drained sandy loams, silts, and clays derived from the Wasatch Formation.

Geographic Range: This woodland association is only known from Fossil Butte National Monument in southwestern Wyoming.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  WY




Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available

Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available


Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available

Synonomy: = Pinus flexilis / Cercocarpus montanus - Amelanchier utahensis Woodland (Friesen et al. 2010)

Concept Author(s): Friesen et al. (2010)

Author of Description: K.A. Schulz

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-11-08

  • Friesen, B. A., S. Blauer, K. Landgraf, J. Von Loh, J. Coles, K. Schulz, A. Tendick, A. Wight, G. Wakefield, and A. Evenden. 2010. Vegetation classification and mapping project report, Fossil Butte National Monument. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCPN/NRTR--2010/319. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 552 pp. [http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/fobu/foburpt.pdf]
  • Western Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boulder, CO.