Laserfiche WebLink
Tree abundance in this community is sparse, totaling only <br /> 1.6 percent cover and represented by scattered Utah juniper gunipezuj <br /> o,j.teo.jperuna (1.5 percent cover) and pinyon pine linuj edu Lip (0.1 <br /> percent cover) . <br /> The number nd cover of perennial grasses is low at 4.3 <br /> percent. Major grasseinclude salina wildrye (2.6 percent ) and galleta <br /> Hi.Larc-ia jameji.i (1.0 per-cent ) . Salina w i I drye is a bunchgrass often <br /> associated with shadscale saltbush communities in xeric, lower elevation <br /> habitats of western Colorado, while galleta is also a very drought <br /> resistant plant found on arid rangelands and reproducing by tough, <br /> woody rhizomes. Less common grasses present include Sandberg bluegrass <br /> loa jan.dbe2gi4 (0.3 per ent ) , Canby bluegrass loa canbyy (0.2 percent ) , <br /> and longleaf squirreItoil Si-taru on .Longi otium (0.1 percent ) . Indian <br /> ricegrass OAyzopjia ham otdej occurs infrequently but did not contri— <br /> bute measurably to cover. <br /> Cheatgrass omu,j -tectortum, an intrtoduced, annual weedy <br /> species, contributes 7. percent cover and is the dominant understory <br /> plant. As in much of w tesrn Colorado, overgrazing has caused this <br /> species to increase at the expense of native perennials. <br /> Perennial forb cover, averaging 0.4 percent , is very low and <br /> comprised of thelypodiopsis lhe.Ltgpodiop.4i,j e.teganj and Torrey seepweed <br /> Suaeda -tovtegana. Other species present include dwarf fleabane &z4gezon <br /> pumi.lu.4, cushion buckwh at 64iogonum ovaJCitotium, basin bah i a <br /> PJ_ata,jchhuahia 4r tegA4- .Li a, hear t I ea tw i st f I ower S.tAep-tanthu4 <br /> conda-tu4, rock goIdenro let/tadoz4a pum4J_a, and twinpod lohparria <br /> acuti fotia. <br /> Annual and biennial forb cover is 0.7 percent , comprised <br /> of halogeton Haltoge.ton omez.a-uA (0.4 percent ) , a noxious weed poisonous <br /> to sheep, Richardson to symustard De4cunairzia z4chazdAonii (0.1 percent ) , <br /> curlycup gumweed §,zindeLa jqualtaoda (0.1 percent cover) , and Russian <br /> thistle Sal4oia ibei4ca (0.1 percent cover) . Other annuals present <br /> include deserttrumpet w Idbuckwheat &niogonum cf. inftatum, biennial <br /> wild lettuce Lactuca .ludoviciana, and tumblemustard Si,iymba..ium <br /> a.Lti 4,jimum. <br /> Succulents rovide only 0.1 percent cover and are represented <br /> by hedgehog cactus 6ch4 ocez.euj cf. tIL4gloch4dia-tu4, brittle cactus <br /> Opunt,ia ,faag.iiid, and N w Mexican yucca yucca neomex<cona. <br /> Cryptogam cover is 0.7 percent, composed entirely of lichens. <br /> Shrub Densilry and Tree Numbers <br /> Total shrub density averages 45.9 shrubs/50 m2 or 3,714/ac. <br /> The most abundant shrubs are shadscale saltbush (1,527 shrubs/ac) and <br /> sagebrush (1,246 shrubsVac) . Other common shrubs include broom snakeweed <br /> (360 shrubs/ac) , Gardner saltbush (260 shrubs/ac) , low rabbitbrush <br /> —10— <br />