2005-06-02_REVISION - M1980193 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Site Type: Rangeland Sandy MLRA: 69 -Upper Arkansas Valley Rolling Plains R069XY026CO Plant Community Narratives Following are the narratives for each of the described plant communities. These plant communities may not represent every possibility, but they probably are the most prevalent and repeatable plant communities. The plant composition table shown above has been developed from the best available knowledge at the time of this revision. As more data is collected, some of these plant communities may be revised or removed and new ones may be added. None of these plant communities should necessarily be thought of as "Desired Plant Communities". According to the USDA NRCS National Range and Pasture Handbook, Desired Plant Communities will be determined by the decision-makers and will meet minimum quality criteria established by the NRCS. The main purpose for including any description of a plant community here is to capture the current knowledge and experience at the time of this revision. Blue Grama, Prairie Sandreed, Sand Bluestem Plant Community This is the interpretive plant community and is considered to be the Historic Climax Plant Community (HCPC). This plant community evolved with grazing by large herbivores, is well suited for grazing by domestic livestock, and can be found on areas that are properly managed with grazing that allows adequate recovery periods following each grazing occurrence during the growing season. The potential vegetation is about 70-85% grasses and grass-like plants, 10-15% forbs and 5-15% woody plants. The dominant tall warm season grasses are prairie Sandreed, sand buestem and switchgrass. Blue grama dominates the understory. Important cool season grasses and grass-likes are needleandthread, western wheatgrass and sun sedge. Key forbs and shrubs are American vetch, purple prairie clover, western sandcherry and fourwing saltbush. This plant community is well adapted to the Northern Great Plains climatic conditions and is relatively resistant to many disturbances except prolonged continuous grazing, sodbusting, urban and other development. The diversity in plant species allows for high drought tolerance. Plant litter is properly distributed with very little movement off-site and natural plant mortality is very low. This is a sustainable plant community in terms of soil stability, watershed function and biologic integrity. Production in this community can vary from 650 to 1700 pounds of air-dry vegetation per acre per year depending on weather conditions and averages 1200 pounds. The following is the growth curve of this plant community expected during a normal year: Growth curve number: CO6905 Growth curve name: Warm season dominant, cool season sub-dominant; MLRA-69; upland coarse textured soils. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 0 0 5 10 22 35 15 10 3 0 0 0 (monthly percentages of total annual growth) Transitions or pathways leading to other plant communities are as follows: • Continuous grazinp without adequate recovery periods between grazing events will move this plant community toward the Increased Blue grama Plant Community. • Non-use (rest) or lack of fire will move this plant community toward the Low Plant Density, Excessive Litter Plant Community. • Prescribed grazinp that allows adequate recovery opportunity following each grazing event with proper stocking will maintain the Blue Grama, Prairie Sandreed, Sand Bluestem Plant Community (HCPC). Technical Guide USDA NRCS Section IIE 7 Rev. 3/04