Print Report
A3932 Hordeum jubatum Alkaline Wet Meadow Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance consists of grasslands dominated by Hordeum jubatum found in lowlands with moderately to strongly saline or alkaline soils within the western U.S. and Canada.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Foxtail Barley Alkaline Wet Meadow Alliance
Colloquial Name: Foxtail Barley Alkaline Wet Meadow
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alkaline grassland alliance contains stands dominated by Hordeum jubatum. Vegetation is dominated by short and medium-tall graminoids with a total cover of nearly 100%. Shrubs are often absent, and forbs are present but not usually abundant. Other common species include Distichlis spicata, Elymus trachycaulus, Pascopyrum smithii, Poa arida, Poa compressa, Rumex crispus, and Sonchus arvensis. Hordeum jubatum is a native increaser species that responds to disturbance, and with time since disturbance, sites will grade into other alkaline alliances. This alliance is found throughout the interior western U.S., including California''s Central Valley, and Alberta, Canada. Stands are located in lowlands with moderately to strongly saline or alkaline soils. The topography is flat and the soils are often briefly flooded or saturated in the spring.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Bottomland alkaline grasslands dominated by Hordeum jubatum. Stands are often monotypic, or with 1-3 dominants.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This combines temporarily and intermittently flooded alliances, and often grades into other alliances with time since disturbance, and therefore may be difficult to classify when Hordeum jubatum is codominant with other species. This alliance is limited to the western U.S. and Canada.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Vegetation included in this alliance has a sparse to dense graminoid layer dominated by perennial bunch grasses less than 0.5 m tall. Forbs are infrequent.
Floristics: Grasslands included in this alliance have vegetation that is a sparse to dense layer of short and medium-tall graminoids dominated by the cool-season, short-lived, perennial bunchgrass Hordeum jubatum. It often occurs in nearly pure stands. Ungar et al. (1969) described one stand that was dominated by Hordeum jubatum in the spring and early summer, which then became dominated by Iva annua in the late summer. Total vegetation cover is usually high but can range from 20% to nearly 100% (Barnes and Tieszen 1978, Hansen et al. 1995). Shrubs are often absent, and forbs are present but not usually abundant. Species diversity is typically low. Other species include Chenopodium spp., Distichlis spicata, Eleocharis spp., Elymus trachycaulus, Iva annua, Pascopyrum smithii, Poa arida, Poa compressa, Puccinellia nuttalliana, Rumex crispus, Salicornia rubra, and Bolboschoenus maritimus (= Scirpus paludosus).
Dynamics: Hordeum jubatum is a common, short-lived pioneer species of mesic habitats where permanent grass cover has been destroyed (Dodd and Coupland 1966). It may represent a seral stage that will be taken over by more permanent grasses (Hansen et al. 1995). It is moderately salt-tolerant and can densely colonize areas disturbed by flooding along drainages, around playas and more permanent ponds. Hordeum jubatum is moderately tolerant of salinity. Often on playas, these grasslands occupy a zone of intermediate salinity between halophytic vegetation dominated by Distichlis spicata, Puccinellia nuttalliana, or Salicornia rubra, and non-saline, mesic prairie vegetation dominated by Pascopyrum smithii, Poa spp. or Elymus spp. Total vegetation cover (density and height), species composition and soil salinity depend on the amount and timing of precipitation and flooding. Growth-inhibiting salt concentrations are diluted when the soil is saturated, allowing the growth of less salt-tolerant species and more robust growth (Ungar 1967).
Environmental Description: The topography is flat, and the soils are often briefly flooded or saturated in the spring (Redmann 1972). It is also found in the drawdown zone of ponds with moderately saline water (Hansen et al. 1995). Soils are clay loam to clay and poor to very poorly drained. Soil salinity is somewhat variable. In the field with competition, this grass grows best in moderately saline conditions (up to 0.7% salinity) (Wilson 1967). The soil surface may be covered with white salt crusts with moderately to strongly saline soils (Wilson 1967, Ungar et al. 1969, Barnes and Tieszen 1978, Hansen et al. 1995).
Geographic Range: This alliance is found in the interior west of California, Oregon, and Washington east to Colorado, Idaho, Montana, south into New Mexico, and north into Alberta.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: AB, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899983
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.5 Salt Marsh Formation | F035 | 2.C.5 |
| Division | 2.C.5.Nd North American Western Interior Brackish Marsh, Playa & Shrubland Division | D036 | 2.C.5.Nd |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.5.Nd.1 Warm & Cool Desert Alkali-Saline Marsh, Playa & Shrubland Macrogroup | M082 | 2.C.5.Nd.1 |
| Group | 2.C.5.Nd.1.a Saltgrass - Lemmon''s Alkali Grass - Saltwort species Alkaline-Saline Marsh & Playa Group | G538 | 2.C.5.Nd.1.a |
| Alliance | A3932 Foxtail Barley Alkaline Wet Meadow Alliance | A3932 | 2.C.5.Nd.1.a |
| Association | CEGL005285 Foxtail Barley Great Basin Wet Meadow | CEGL005285 | 2.C.5.Nd.1.a |
Concept Lineage: A.1358, in part
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Hordeum brachyantherum (Meadow barley patches) Alliance (Sawyer et al. 2009) [42.052.00]
? Hordeum jubatum Community Type (Hansen et al. 1995)
? Hordeum jubatum Dominance Type (Hansen et al. 1988b)
? Hordeum jubatum Plains Grassland (Baker 1984a)
? Hordeum brachyantherum Herbaceous Alliance (CNPS 2017) [42.052.00]
>< Hordeum Type (Redmann 1972)
? Hordeum jubatum Community Type (Hansen et al. 1995)
? Hordeum jubatum Dominance Type (Hansen et al. 1988b)
? Hordeum jubatum Plains Grassland (Baker 1984a)
? Hordeum brachyantherum Herbaceous Alliance (CNPS 2017) [42.052.00]
>< Hordeum Type (Redmann 1972)
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