Print Report

M087 Bouteloua eriopoda - Muhlenbergia emersleyi - Pleuraphis mutica Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland Macrogroup

Type Concept Sentence: This warm-temperate to subtropical, semi-desert scrub macrogroup occurs in the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Sonora and central to northern Baja California, Mexico, and is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense layer (1-50% cover) of xeromorphic, evergreen and drought-deciduous, microphyllous and broad-leaved shrubs and/or succulent species, especially cacti and rosette stem succulents and sarcocaulescent trees and shrubs. Larrea tridentata is often present to dominant with Ambrosia dumosa and many Sonoran or Mojave desert diagnostic species.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Black Grama - Bullgrass - Tobosa Grass Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland Macrogroup

Colloquial Name: Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland

Hierarchy Level:  Macrogroup

Type Concept: This warm-temperate to subtropical, semi-desert macrogroup occurs in the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Sonora and central to northern Baja California, Mexico. The vegetation is diverse and is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense layer (1-50% cover) of xeromorphic, evergreen and drought-deciduous, microphyllous and broad-leaved shrubs and/or succulent species, especially cacti and rosette stem succulents and sarcocaulescent trees and shrubs. Larrea tridentata is often present to dominant with Ambrosia dumosa in much of the vegetation of this macrogroup, especially the drier interfluves and lower bajadas with the larger woody cacti and microphylls limited to desert areas of more effective precipitation from runoff (washes or shallow braided channels across alluvial fans) and in areas with coarser-textured soil such as upper bajadas. Ambrosia dumosa, Encelia farinosa, and Ephedra aspera are diagnostic in the Mojave Desert. The Arizona Upland portion of the Sonoran Desert is characterized by Carnegiea gigantea with shrub layers dominated by Parkinsonia microphylla or Larrea tridentata. Fouquieria splendens, Olneya tesota, and many cacti species are often present. The subtropical central Gulf of California coast and adjacent portions of the lower Colorado River valley region are characterized by Bursera microphylla, Jatropha cuneata, Pachycereus spp., and Stenocereus thurberi. In coastal Baja and adjacent southern California, Agave shawii, Bergerocactus emoryi, Euphorbia misera, Ferocactus viridescens, Lycium californicum, Cylindropuntia californica var. parkeri, Opuntia littoralis, Cylindropuntia prolifera, and Yucca schidigera are diagnostic and often dominant species. In addition, this macrogroup includes areas of sparsely to moderately vegetated warm semi-desert dunes, sandsheets, and sandy plains characterized by Abronia villosa, Croton wigginsii, Dicoria canescens, Eriogonum deserticola, Helianthus niveus, Oenothera deltoides, Palafoxia spp., and Panicum urvilleanum often with Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum speciosum, and Pleuraphis rigida. Numerous other species may be present in this diverse macrogroup. In the Arizona Upland of the Sonoran Desert, stands occur on the lower slopes of mountains, foothills, hillsides, mesas, and upper bajadas. Stands form the vegetation matrix in broad valleys, lower bajadas, plains and low hills in the Mojave, Sonoran and Lower Colorado deserts. Stands also occur in coastal plains found on both sides of the Gulf of California and along the central Baja California coast, with a depauperate extension north along immediate coastal bluffs and xeric slopes intermittently to southern California, including the more southerly Channel Islands (San Clemente, Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Anacapa). Elevation ranges from -75 to 1200 m. Climate is semi-arid to arid and season of precipitation varies regionally. The annual precipitation in the Sonoran Desert has a bimodal distribution with about half of the rain falling during July to September and a third falling from December to March. Farther west, the proportion of summer precipitation decreases until precipitation has a markedly unimodal distribution with most precipitation falling in the winter months associated with winter storm tracks reaching the desert from the Pacific Ocean in the Mojave Desert. In contrast, in central Baja California, climate is extremely arid with mean annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, which occurs mostly in the summer-early fall season (monsoon). Precipitation is augmented by summer fog drip near the coast. Inland Sonoran stands are also extremely arid with mean annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, which occurs mostly in the summer-early fall season (monsoon). Extended drought is common which favors plants with water storage. Substrates are variable, but typically shallow, well-drained, rocky or gravelly coarse-textured soils derived from colluvium or alluvium, except for the sand deposit sites included in the macrogroup. Parent material is usually gravelly alluvium and colluvium, derived from basalt and other igneous or metamorphic rocks.

Diagnostic Characteristics: This matrix warm to subtropical, semi-desert macrogroup is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense layer (1-50% cover) of xeromorphic, evergreen and drought-deciduous, microphyllous and broad-leaved shrubs and/or succulent species, especially cacti and stem succulents. Widespread diagnostic species Larrea tridentata differentiates this macrogroup from cool desert scrub. It is separated from the Chihuahuan Desert macrogroup by the lack of characteristic Chihuahuan species such as Flourensia cernua, and the presence of Sonoran Desert and Baja Norte species of Bursera, Carnegiea, Jatropha, Olneya, Pachycereus, Parkinsonia, Simmondsia, and Stenocereus or Mojave species such as Ambrosia dumosa, Encelia farinosa, or Ephedra aspera. In addition, this macrogroup includes areas of sparsely to moderately vegetated warm semi-desert dunes, sandsheets, and sandy plains characterized by Abronia villosa, Croton wigginsii, Dicoria canescens, Eriogonum deserticola, Helianthus niveus, Panicum urvilleanum, Pleuraphis rigida, and many other native forbs. It also includes sparsely vegetated desert pavements and rock outcrops with variable cover of plants, including Atriplex hymenelytra, Peucephyllum schottii, Camissonia spp., Chorizanthe spp., and Geraea canescens.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: ~Sonoran Sarcocaulescent Desert Scrub Group (G292)$$ is restricted to northwestern Mexico and doe not occur in the United States. However, limited components of the group occur as disjunct populations of Bursera microphylla, Jatropha cuneata, Pachycereus schottii, and Stenocereus thurberi occurring north across the border into southwestern Arizona and forming special stands within ~Sonoran Paloverde - Mixed Cacti Desert Scrub Group (G293)$$. These special stands are known from the Santa Rosa and Ajo mountains at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Copper Mountains, southern Gila Mountains and northern Tinajas Altas Mountains of the Barry M. Goldwater Range, and the Growler Mountains in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and need to be better understood.

Another issue with disjunct populations includes Simmondsia chinensis. In California stands of this species occur as desert margin rather than true desert scrub. They occur surrounded by drier inland versions of ~Californian Coastal Scrub Macrogroup (M044)$$, but have some cacti species and some other Sonoran Desert species too. Simmondsia chinensis is an indicator of the greater Sonoran Desert but it also resprouts after fire and, in the relatively rare cases where it exists as a dominant, it may be because many other desert species don''t resprout after fire and may have been eliminated. Now we put this alliance into ~Sonoran Paloverde - Mixed Cacti Desert Scrub Group (G293)$$, but about half of the known stands are actually more closely related to ~Central & Southern Californian Coastal Sage Scrub Group (G264)$$ in the ~Californian Coastal Scrub Macrogroup (M044)$$.

Another outlier example is the stands of Viguiera laciniata (= Bahiopsis laciniata) in southwestern California. The species is diagnostic of this macrogroup and ~Baja Semi-Desert Coastal Succulent Scrub Group (G298)$$ according to Brown (1982a) (ragged-leaf goldeneye-boojum series), but in southern California stands are always associated with coastal scrub. These special stands have high cover and constancy of Viguiera laciniata and have few other desert species in them, mostly because they tend to burn frequently in southern California. They may be related to G298, but also to ~Californian Coastal Scrub Macrogroup (M044)$$ and ~Central & Southern Californian Coastal Sage Scrub Group (G264)$$, within which they are currently placed.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This macrogroup is characterized by a sparse to dense herbaceous layer dominated by perennial desert grasses. Forbs are usually present but have low cover. There is often a rich assortment of scattered xeromorphic evergreen and deciduous shrubs, rosette stem succulents, and cacti. Shrubs and succulents usually have lower total cover than the herbaceous layer, except for gypsiferous vegetation which may be dominated by dwarf-shrubs and shrublands forming shrub-steppes and shrublands. The presence of gypsophilous species is a more important indicator than vegetation structure.

Floristics: This matrix warm temperate to subtropical semi-desert macrogroup is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense layer (1-50% cover) of xeromorphic, evergreen and drought-deciduous, microphyllous and broad-leaved shrubs and/or succulent species, especially cacti and rosette stem succulents and sarcocaulescent trees and shrubs. Larrea tridentata is often present to dominant in much of the vegetation of this macrogroup, especially the drier interfluves and lower bajadas with the larger woody cacti and microphylls limited to desert areas of more effective precipitation from runoff (washes or shallow braided channels across alluvial fans) and in areas with coarser-textured soil such as upper bajadas. Ambrosia dumosa, Encelia farinosa, and Ephedra aspera (= Ephedra fasciculata), are diagnostic in the Mojave Desert. The Arizona Upland portion of the Sonoran Desert is characterized by Carnegiea gigantea (3-16 m tall) with sparse to moderately dense, xeromorphic, deciduous and evergreen shrub layers dominated by Parkinsonia microphylla or Larrea tridentata. Often Fouquieria splendens and Olneya tesota are present, although usually less prominently. There are typically many cacti present, including species of Coryphantha, Echinocereus, Ferocactus, Mammillaria, and Opuntia (both cholla and prickly-pear). The subtropical central Gulf of California coast and adjacent portions of the lower Colorado River valley region of the Sonoran Desert are characterized by Bursera microphylla, Jatropha cuneata, Pachycereus schottii, Pachycereus pringlei, Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum, and Stenocereus thurberi, and in Baja Norte, Agave shawii, Bergerocactus emoryi, Euphorbia misera, Ferocactus viridescens, Lycium californicum, Cylindropuntia californica var. parkeri (= Opuntia parryi), Opuntia littoralis, Cylindropuntia prolifera (= Opuntia prolifera), and Yucca schidigera are diagnostic and often dominant species. In addition, this macrogroup includes areas of sparsely to moderately vegetated warm semi-desert dunes, sandsheets, and sandy plains characterized by Abronia villosa, Croton wigginsii, Dicoria canescens, Eriogonum deserticola, Helianthus niveus, Panicum urvilleanum, Petalonyx thurberi, and Penstemon thurberi often with Achnatherum hymenoides, Achnatherum speciosum, Muhlenbergia porteri, and Pleuraphis rigida. It also includes sparsely vegetated desert pavements and rock outcrops with variable cover of plants including Atriplex hymenelytra, Peucephyllum schottii, Camissonia spp., Chorizanthe spp., and Geraea canescens. Numerous other species may be present in the diverse macrogroup. Floristic information was compiled from Shreve and Wiggins (1964), Felger (1980), Bowers (1982, 1984), Brown (1982a), Turner and Brown (1982), Barbour and Major (1988), MacMahon (1988), Peinado et al. (1994), Holland and Keil (1995), Sawyer and Keeler-Wolf (1995), and Sawyer et al. (2009).

Dynamics:  During the last century, the area occupied by this desert grassland and steppe decreased through conversion of desert grasslands as a result of drought, overgrazing and Prosopis glandulosa seed dispersion by livestock, and/or decreases in fire frequency (Buffington and Herbel 1965, Brown and Archer 1987). It is believed that mesquite formerly occurred in relatively minor amounts and was largely confined to drainages until cattle distributed seed upland into desert grasslands (Brown and Archer 1987, 1989). Shrublands dominated by Prosopis spp. have replaced large areas of desert grasslands, especially those formerly dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda, in Trans-Pecos Texas, southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona (York and Dick-Peddie 1969, Hennessy et al. 1983). Studies on the Jornada Experimental Range suggest that combinations of drought, overgrazing by livestock, wind and water erosion, seed dispersal by livestock, fire suppression, shifting dunes, and changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation have caused this recent, dramatic shift in vegetation physiognomy (Buffington and Herbel 1965, Herbel et al. 1972, Humphrey 1974, McLaughlin and Bowers 1982, Gibbens et al. 1983, Hennessy et al. 1983, Schlesinger et al. 1990, McPherson 1995).

Impermeable caliche and argillic horizons are common on these sites. These layers restrict deep percolation of soil water and may favor the shallower rooted grasses over more deeply rooted shrubs such as Larrea tridentata and Prosopis spp. (McAuliffe 1995). Pleuraphis mutica is relatively tolerant of livestock grazing. In west-central Arizona, livestock have nearly eliminated all native grasses except Pleuraphis mutica from semi-desert grassland (Brown 1982a). Stands codominated by Scleropogon brevifolius are characteristic of sites with past heavy grazing by livestock (Whitfield and Anderson 1938).

In gypsophilous grassland Sporobolus nealleyi is dominant with Tiquilia hispidissima and Opuntia polyacantha on crusted gypsum ridges, but not on unstable gypsum dunes (Burgess and Northington 1977). The eolian processes and sand substrate on gypsum dunes may be as important ecologically as the chemical properties of the gypsum parent material as seen by presence of sand-loving plant species such as Achnatherum hymenoides, Andropogon hallii, Artemisia filifolia, Muhlenbergia pungens, and Psorothamnus scoparius on gypsum dunes.
Environmental Description:  This warm-temperate to subtropical, semi-desert macrogroup occurs in the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Sonora and Baja California, Mexico. It forms the vegetation matrix in broad valleys, lower bajadas, plains and low hills in the Mojave, western Sonoran and Lower Colorado deserts. Elevation ranges from -75 to 1200 m. Sites are gentle to moderately sloping. Substrates are typically well-drained, sandy soils derived from colluvium or alluvium, and are often calcareous with a caliche hardpan and/or a pavement surface. Precipitation is markedly unimodal with most falling in the winter months associated with winter storm tracks reaching the desert from the Pacific Ocean. Stands extend north into the broad transition with the Great Basin and at higher elevations on desert mountains above Larrea tridentata - Ambrosia dumosa desert scrub and below the lower montane woodlands (700-1800 m elevation) that occurs in the eastern and central Mojave Desert. Stands in the Arizona Sonoran Desert occur on lower slopes of mountains, foothills, hillsides, mesas, upper bajadas, and less commonly in valleys and plains in southern Arizona and extreme southeastern California. Elevations range from 150-1070 m (Shreve and Wiggins 1964). Climate is semi-arid. Summers are hot and winters rarely have freezing temperatures. Freezing winter temperatures limit the elevational and northern extent of these stands. Annual precipitation has bimodal distribution with about half of the rain falling during July to September and a third falling from December to March. Farther west, the proportion of summer precipitation decreases until there is not enough summer moisture to sustain Carnegiea gigantea (Barbour and Major 1977). Stands in the subtropical central Gulf of California coast and adjacent portions of the lower Colorado River valley region of the Sonoran Desert occur on gentle to steep, rocky sites. It extends north into the extreme southwestern U.S. and northern Sonora.

Sites in northern Baja and southern California occur on isolated maritime coastal bluffs and terraces. Sites in the Vizcaino Region of central Baja California reach several kilometers inland. These areas are frost-free and receive the least annual precipitation of the California and Baja California coastal shrublands, most of which falls in winter. Climate is extremely arid with mean annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, which occurs mostly in the summer-early fall season (monsoon). Precipitation is augmented by summer fog drip. Sonoran stands are extremely arid with mean annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, which occurs mostly in the summer-early fall season (monsoon). Extended drought is common which favors plants with water storage (Turner and Brown 1982). Semi-desert vegetated and sparsely vegetated sandsheets and dunes that are stabilized or partially stabilized are included in this macrogroup. They occur as small to large patches or as a complex of active and stabilized dunes. These sand deposits often form on the leesides of desert playas and basins that serve as a source for the sand. Substrates are variable, but typically shallow, well-drained, rocky or gravelly, coarse-textured soils derived from colluvium or alluvium, except for the sand deposit vegetation included in the macrogroup, which is eolian. Parent material is usually gravelly alluvium and colluvium, derived from basalt and other igneous or metamorphic rocks.
Geographic Range: This grassland macrogroup is found from the northern to central Chihuahuan Desert and extends into Trans-Pecos Texas, north into the southwestern Great Plains and west to the Sonoran Desert with scattered occurrences northward to the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona. Stands are described from Jornada del Muerto Basin, Marfa grasslands and Marathon Basin, south to central Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico.

Nations: MX,US

States/Provinces:  AZ, CO, MXCHH, MXCOA, MXSON, NM, OK?, TX


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 3 Desert & Semi-Desert Class C03 3
Subclass 3.A Warm Desert & Semi-Desert Woodland, Scrub & Grassland Subclass S06 3.A
Formation 3.A.2 Warm Desert & Semi-Desert Scrub & Grassland Formation F015 3.A.2
Division 3.A.2.Na North American Warm Desert Scrub & Grassland Division D039 3.A.2.Na
Macrogroup 3.A.2.Na.3 Black Grama - Bullgrass - Tobosa Grass Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland Macrogroup M087 3.A.2.Na.3
Group 3.A.2.Na.3.a Black Grama - Chino Grama - Bush Muhly Semi-Desert Grassland Group G490 3.A.2.Na.3.a
Group 3.A.2.Na.3.b Hairy Crinklemat / Gypsum Grama - Gyp Dropseed Grassland Group G492 3.A.2.Na.3.b
Group 3.A.2.Na.3.c Soaptree Yucca / Black Grama - Mesa Dropseed Semi-Desert Grassland Group G491 3.A.2.Na.3.c
Group 3.A.2.Na.3.d Tobosa Grass - Alkali Sacaton - Vine-mesquite Semi-Desert Lowland Grassland Group G489 3.A.2.Na.3.d
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: > Bouteloua eriopoda/Ephedra torreyana PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b)
> Bouteloua eriopoda/Yucca elata PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b)
> Pleuraphis mutica - Sporobolus airoides Herbaceous Vegetation (NHNM unpubl. data)
> Scleropogon brevifolius / Monotypic Herbaceous Vegetation (NHNM unpubl. data)
> Sporobolus nealleyi/Ephedra torreyana PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b)
> Sporobolus nealleyi/Sporobolus airoides PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b)
> Sporobolus nealleyi/Tiquilia hispidissima PA (Muldavin et al. 2000b)
< Alkali Sacaton - Tobosagrass (701) (Shiflet 1994)
< Apacherian mixed shrub savanna (Burgess 1995)
>< Black Grama - Sideoats Grama (703) (Shiflet 1994)
>< Blue Grama - Sideoats Grama (706) (Shiflet 1994)
>< Blue Grama - Sideoats Grama - Black Grama (707) (Shiflet 1994)
> Curleymesquite Grass - Scrub Series - 143.13 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Curleymesquite Grass - Scrub Series, Hilaria belangeri-Mixed Shrub Association - 143.131 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Grama - Tobosa Shrub (505) (Shiflet 1994)
>< Grama -Muhly - Threeawn (713) (Shiflet 1994)
> Grama Grass - Scrub Series - 143.11 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Grama Grass - Scrub Series, Bouteloua eriopoda-Yucca elata Association - 143.111 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Grama Grass - Scrub Series, Bouteloua eriopoda-Mixed Grass Association - 143.113 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Grama Grass - Scrub Series, Bouteloua spp.-Mixed Grass Association - 143.114 (Brown et al. 1979)
= Gypsophilous Scrub (Henrickson et al. 1985)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-1) Gyp Uplands (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-1) Loamy (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-1) R042XA058NM Hills (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-1) R042XA059NM Limestone Hills (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-2) Gyp Uplands (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-2) Limy (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-2) Loamy (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-2) R042XB021NM Limestone Hills (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-2) R042XB027NM Hills (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-3) Gyp Uplands (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-3) Loamy (NRCS 2006a)
< MLRA 42 - Southern Desertic Basin (SD-4) Limy and Shallow Sandy (NRCS 2006a)
>< Oak - Juniper Woodland and Mahogany - Oak (509) (Shiflet 1994)
>< Sideoats Grama - Sumac - Juniper (735) (Shiflet 1994)
> Tobosa Grass - Scrub Series - 143.12 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Tobosa Grass - Scrub Series, Hilaria mutica Association - 143.121 (Brown et al. 1979)
> Tobosa Grass - Scrub Series, Hilaria mutica-Mixed Shrub Association - 143.123 (Brown et al. 1979)
>< Western Live Oak: 241 (Eyre 1980)
Concept Author(s): D.E. Brown, C.H. Lowe, and C.P. Pase (1979)

Author of Description: K.A. Schulz and E.H. Muldavin

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 04-16-15
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