Print Report

A1341 Distichlis spicata - Hordeum jubatum Wet Meadow Alliance

Type Concept Sentence: This alliance occurs throughout the Great Plains on saline sites with a mixture of short and mid grasses; Distichlis spicata is the most consistently abundant species.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Saltgrass - Foxtail Barley Wet Meadow Alliance

Colloquial Name: Great Plains Saltgrass Saline Wet Meadow

Hierarchy Level:  Alliance

Type Concept: This alliance occurs throughout the Great Plains where saline soils create conditions suitable for it. Dominant vegetation is a mixture of short and mid grasses and can have moderately sparse to dense cover. Vegetation height and cover and species diversity tend to vary inversely with salinity. Distichlis spicata is the most abundant species in stands across the range of this alliance. Other species include Bassia scoparia, Grindelia squarrosa (in the northern portion of this alliance''s range), Hordeum jubatum, Iva annua, Pascopyrum smithii (on less saline stands), Poa arida, Puccinellia nuttalliana (in the north), Salicornia rubra (on more saline stands), Bolboschoenus maritimus, Sporobolus airoides, Suaeda calceoliformis (on more saline stands). Widely scattered low shrubs, especially Atriplex patula and Sarcobatus vermiculatus, can be found on sites in the western and central Great Plains. Trees are not found. Stands of this alliance are found in depressions and along the margins of saline lakes and ponds. Most of the stands are flooded or saturated for a few weeks in the spring and after heavy rains; some have water present for most of the growing season. The soils range from sand to clay and from moderately well-drained to poorly drained. Most are deep and moderately to strongly saline. Stands that have good drainage in the surface soils usually have a deeper impermeable or slowly permeable layer that allows retention of water. Fires which spread from upland prairies may have moved through the more dense stands, but many stands did not have sufficient vegetation to support fires.

Diagnostic Characteristics: This alliance is found on saline sites that are flooded or saturated for part of the growing season. Dominant species are grasses able to tolerate the changes in soil moisture and saline conditions. Distichlis spicata and Hordeum jubatum are the most common species. Pascopyrum smithii has <25% cover in this alliance.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This alliance is similar, and may be adjacent on the landscape, to ~Pascopyrum smithii - Distichlis spicata - Hordeum jubatum Wet Meadow Alliance (A1354)$$. The latter occurs in less saline conditions and may occur on the border of this alliance. Pascopyrum smithii has <25% cover in this alliance but other differential species are not well-documented.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Dominant vegetation is a mixture of short and mid grasses and can have moderately sparse to dense cover. Vegetation height and cover and species diversity tend to vary inversely with salinity (Ungar 1967, Rolfsmeir and Steinauer 2010).

Floristics: Distichlis spicata is the most abundant species in stands across the range of this alliance. Other species found in the Great Plains include Bassia scoparia (= Kochia scoparia), Grindelia squarrosa (in the northern portion of this alliance''s range), Hordeum jubatum, Iva annua, Pascopyrum smithii (on less saline stands), Poa arida, Puccinellia nuttalliana (in the north), Salicornia rubra (on more saline stands), Bolboschoenus maritimus (= Schoenoplectus maritimus), Sporobolus airoides, Suaeda calceoliformis (on more saline stands). Widely scattered low shrubs, especially Atriplex patula and Sarcobatus vermiculatus, can be found on sites in the western and central Great Plains. Trees are not found on stands of this alliance.

Dynamics:  Stands in this alliance are flooded for part of the growing season but most are dry for most of the summer.
Environmental Description:  Stands of this alliance are found in depressions and along the margins of saline lakes and ponds. Most of the stands are flooded or saturated for a few weeks in the spring and after heavy rains; some have water present for most of the growing season. The soils range from sand to clay and from moderately well-drained to poorly drained. Most are deep and moderately to strongly saline (Redmann 1972, USFS 1992). Stands that have good drainage in the surface soils usually have a deeper impermeable or slowly permeable layer that allows retention of water (Rolfsmeir and Steinauer 2010). Fires which spread from upland prairies may have moved through the more dense stands, but many stands did not have sufficient vegetation to support fires (Rolfsmeir and Steinauer 2010).
Geographic Range: This alliance is found throughout much of the Great Plains and western tallgrass prairie from southern Canada to Texas.

Nations: CA,MX?,US

States/Provinces:  KS, MB, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, OK, SD, SK, TX, WY


Confidence Level: Low

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.5 Salt Marsh Formation F035 2.C.5
Division 2.C.5.Na North American Great Plains Saline Marsh Division D033 2.C.5.Na
Macrogroup 2.C.5.Na.1 Great Plains Saline Wet Meadow & Marsh Macrogroup M077 2.C.5.Na.1
Group 2.C.5.Na.1.a Saltgrass - Foxtail Barley - Western Wheatgrass Great Plains Saline Wet Meadow & Marsh Group G324 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Alliance A1341 Saltgrass - Foxtail Barley Wet Meadow Alliance A1341 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL002031 Saltgrass - Foxtail Barley - (Plains Bluegrass, Annual Marsh-elder) Wet Meadow CEGL002031 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL002042 Saltgrass - (Foxtail Barley, Plains Bluegrass, Alkali Sacaton) Wet Meadow CEGL002042 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL002043 Saltgrass - Cosmopolitan Bulrush - Red Swampfire Wet Meadow CEGL002043 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL002273 Saltgrass - Foxtail Barley - Nuttall''s Alkali Grass - Pursh Seepweed Wet Meadow CEGL002273 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL002275 Saltgrass - Cordgrass species Wet Meadow CEGL002275 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Association CEGL005286 Foxtail Barley Great Plains Wet Meadow CEGL005286 2.C.5.Na.1.a
Concept Lineage: This alliance is made up of five associations from old A.1341 and one from old A.1358.

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Distichlis spicata herbaceous alliance (Hoagland 1998a)
? Hordeum jubatum Community Type (Hansen et al. 1995)
? Hordeum jubatum Dominance Type (Hansen et al. 1988b)
? Hordeum jubatum Plains Grassland (Baker 1984a)
>< Hordeum Type (Redmann 1972)
Concept Author(s): J. Drake, in Faber-Langendoen et al. (2013)

Author of Description: J. Drake

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-08-14
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