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Vegetation Characteristics Across Part of the Wyoming Big Sagebrush Alliance
Author
Davies, Kirk W.
Bates, Jonathan D.
Miller, Richard F.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2006-11-01
Body

The Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. Wyomingensis [Beetle A. Young] S.L. Welsh) alliance is the most extensive of the big sagebrush complex in the Intermountain West. This alliance provides critical habitat for many sagebrush obligate and facultative wildlife species and serves as a forage base for livestock production. There is a lack of information that describes vegetation cover values, characteristics, diversity, and heterogeneity of the Wyoming big sagebrush alliance. This study describes vegetation cover values and defines distinct associations for intact, late-seral Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities across part of its northwestern range. We sampled 107 Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities. Total herbaceous cover values were variable among sites with differences between sites exceeding 700%. Mean sagebrush cover was 12.3% with 90% of the sites producing 6% to 20% cover. Tall forb (.18 cm) cover averaged 1.9% and 90% of the sites varied between 0.2% and 5.6% cover. Five associations delineated by dominant perennial bunchgrass species were identified: ARTRW8 (Wyoming big sagebrush)/PSSP6 (Pseudoroegneria spicata [Pursh] A. Löve, bluebunch wheatgrass), ARTRW8/ACTH7 (Achnatherum thurberianum [Piper] Barkworth, Thurber’s needlegrass), ARTRW8/FEID (Festuca idahoensis Elmer, Idahofescue), ARTRW8/HECO26 (Hesperostipa comata [Trin. Rupr.] Barkworth, needle-and-thread), and ARTRW8/PSSP6-ACTH7 (a codominance of bluebunch wheatgrass and Thurber’s needlegrass). Our results suggest when the vegetation cover values proposed for sage-grouse are applied as requirements at or above the stand level, they exceed the ecological potentialof many of the sites sampled. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020 Legacy DOIs that must be preserved: 10.2458/azu_jrm_v59i6_davies

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2111/06-004R2.1
Additional Information
Davies, K. W., Bates, J. D., & Miller, R. F. (2006). Vegetation characteristics across part of the Wyoming big sagebrush alliance. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 59(6), 567-575.
ISSN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643111
Journal Volume
59
Journal Number
6
Journal Pages
567-575
Collection
Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM)
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology & Management
Keywords
Artemisia tridentata spp. wyomingensis
cover potential
plant associations
vegetation cover
sage grouse