PERMFILE105224 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• sagebrush (Artemisia tridentatal, black sagebrush (Artemisia nova), or silver sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), ranging from 20- to 50-percent cover. Snowberry (Symphoricarpos ssp.) is commonly associated with this type on more moderate slopes and may make up as much as 30 percent of the cover. Total ground cover ranges from 60 to 100 percent but averages around 80 percent. Other associated species include serviceberry (Amelanchier ainifolia), rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), gambel oak (puercus ambelii), wheatgrasses (Agropyron s.pp.l, bluegrasses (Poo spp.), and houndstongue (C~noglossum officinalis). Occasionally mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), skunk bush (Rhus trilobata), lupine (Lupinus sp.), and yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis) will be found. • Forbs mAy make up as much as 50 percent cover in some areas; however, moisture conditions predispose them to ephemeral growth patterns and their abundance drops off rapidly in later summer months. Grasses are sparse over most of the community, averaging less than 5 per- cent cover. Occasionally, small inclusions of grassland with as much as 50 per- cent cover by grass species may be found within this type. Potential productivity of this type of community is estimated by the SCS to range from 800 to 1700 pounds per acre depending on slope aspect, yearly moisture conditions, and associated species. Mountain Shrub 1'thickets cover most of the study area (approximately 35 percent). All aspects and topographic features support this community; however, • it tends to occur most often on the south-facing moderate slopes and ridgetops - 125 - (Rev. 5/86)