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Draft. A draft ecological site description is either incomplete or has not undergone quality control and quality assurance review.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree Not specified
Shrub Not specified
Herbaceous Not specified
Physiographic features
Table 2. Representative physiographic features
Climatic features
">Influencing water features
Soil features
Ecological dynamics
State and transition model
Custom diagramStandard diagram
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Click on state and transition labels to scroll to the respective textEcosystem states
State 1 submodel, plant communities
State 1
HCPC, FEID-CARO5/PUTR2-CELE3/PIPOCommunity 1.1
HCPC, FEID-CARO5/PUTR2-CELE3/PIPO!
Figure 1. Annual production by plant type (representative values) or group (midpoint values)
Table 3. Annual production by plant type
Plant type Low
(lb/acre)Representative value
(lb/acre)High
(lb/acre)Grass/Grasslike 470 570 670 Shrub/Vine 190 305 420 Tree 40 85 130 Forb 10 35 60 Total 710 995 1280 Additional community tables
Table 4. Community 1.1 plant community composition
Group Common name Symbol Scientific name Annual production () Foliar cover (%) Grass/Grasslike1 Dominant deep rooted perennial grasses 350–400 Idaho fescue FEID Festuca idahoensis 350–400 – 2 Sub-dominant deep rooted perennial grasses 80–150 Ross' sedge CARO5 Carex rossii 50–100 – bluebunch wheatgrass PSSP6 Pseudoroegneria spicata 20–30 – western needlegrass ACOC3 Achnatherum occidentale 10–20 – 4 Sub-dominant shallow rooted perennial grasses 30–70 Sandberg bluegrass POSE Poa secunda 20–50 – prairie Junegrass KOMA Koeleria macrantha 10–20 – 5 Other perennial grasses 10–50 mountain brome BRMA4 Bromus marginatus 0–5 – squirreltail ELEL5 Elymus elymoides 0–5 – Wheeler's bluegrass POWH2 Poa wheeleri 0–5 – spike trisetum TRSP2 Trisetum spicatum 0–5 – Forb9 Other perennial forbs 10–60 common yarrow ACMI2 Achillea millefolium 0–5 – blue eyed Mary COLLI Collinsia 0–5 – larkspur DELPH Delphinium 0–5 – fleabane ERIGE2 Erigeron 0–5 – hawkweed HIERA Hieracium 0–5 – lupine LUPIN Lupinus 0–5 – phacelia PHACE Phacelia 0–5 – lambstongue ragwort SEIN2 Senecio integerrimus 0–5 – Oregon checkerbloom SIOR Sidalcea oregana 0–5 – American vetch VIAM Vicia americana 0–5 – Shrub/Vine13 Dominant deciduous (or 1/2 shrubs) shrubs 170–300 antelope bitterbrush PUTR2 Purshia tridentata 100–150 – curl-leaf mountain mahogany CELE3 Cercocarpus ledifolius 50–100 – Saskatoon serviceberry AMAL2 Amelanchier alnifolia 20–50 – 14 Sub-dominant deciduous (or 1/2 shrubs) shrubs 10–20 wax currant RICE Ribes cereum 10–20 – 15 Other shrubs 10–100 mountain big sagebrush ARTRV Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana 0–5 – prostrate ceanothus CEPR Ceanothus prostratus 0–5 – rubber rabbitbrush ERNA10 Ericameria nauseosa 0–5 – green rabbitbrush ERTE18 Ericameria teretifolia 0–5 – creeping barberry MARE11 Mahonia repens 0–5 – Klamath plum PRSU2 Prunus subcordata 0–5 – chokecherry PRVI Prunus virginiana 0–5 – desert gooseberry RIVE Ribes velutinum 0–5 – Woods' rose ROWO Rosa woodsii 0–5 – Tree16 Dominant evergreen trees 40–130 ponderosa pine PIPO Pinus ponderosa 30–100 – western juniper JUOC Juniperus occidentalis 10–30 – Interpretations
Supporting information
Rangeland health reference sheet
Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health is a qualitative assessment protocol used to determine ecosystem condition based on benchmark characteristics described in the Reference Sheet. A suite of 17 (or more) indicators are typically considered in an assessment. The ecological site(s) representative of an assessment location must be known prior to applying the protocol and must be verified based on soils and climate. Current plant community cannot be used to identify the ecological site.
Author(s)/participant(s) Contact for lead author Date 09/05/2012 Approved by Approval date Composition (Indicators 10 and 12) based on Annual Production Indicators
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Number and extent of rills:
None to some (on steeper slopes - to 50%), moderate to significant sheet & rill erosion hazard -
Presence of water flow patterns:
None to some (on steeper slopes - to 50%) -
Number and height of erosional pedestals or terracettes:
None -
Bare ground from Ecological Site Description or other studies (rock, litter, lichen, moss, plant canopy are not bare ground):
10-15% -
Number of gullies and erosion associated with gullies:
None -
Extent of wind scoured, blowouts and/or depositional areas:
None, slight wind erosion hazard -
Amount of litter movement (describe size and distance expected to travel):
Fine - limited movement -
Soil surface (top few mm) resistance to erosion (stability values are averages - most sites will show a range of values):
Significantly resistant to erosion: aggregate stability = 4-6 -
Soil surface structure and SOM content (include type of structure and A-horizon color and thickness):
Shallow to very deep, well drained cobbly and very stony loams: Low to Moderate OM (1-3%) -
Effect of community phase composition (relative proportion of different functional groups) and spatial distribution on infiltration and runoff:
Moderate vegetative cover (50-60%), litter cover, and moderate slopes (1-50%) moderately limit rainfall impact and overland flow; infiltration is slow -
Presence and thickness of compaction layer (usually none; describe soil profile features which may be mistaken for compaction on this site):
None -
Functional/Structural Groups (list in order of descending dominance by above-ground annual-production or live foliar cover using symbols: >>, >, = to indicate much greater than, greater than, and equal to):
Dominant:
Idaho fescue > Antelope bitterbrush > Ross sedge = Curlleaf mountain mahogany > other dominant grasses > other shrubs > Ponderosa Pine > forbs > other grassesSub-dominant:
Other:
Additional:
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Amount of plant mortality and decadence (include which functional groups are expected to show mortality or decadence):
Normal decadence and mortality expected -
Average percent litter cover (%) and depth ( in):
-
Expected annual annual-production (this is TOTAL above-ground annual-production, not just forage annual-production):
Favorable: 1200, Normal: 1000, Unfavorable: 800 lbs/acre/year at high RSI (HCPC) -
Potential invasive (including noxious) species (native and non-native). List species which BOTH characterize degraded states and have the potential to become a dominant or co-dominant species on the ecological site if their future establishment and growth is not actively controlled by management interventions. Species that become dominant for only one to several years (e.g., short-term response to drought or wildfire) are not invasive plants. Note that unlike other indicators, we are describing what is NOT expected in the reference state for the ecological site:
Perennial brush species will increase with deterioration of plant community. Western Juniper and Ponderosa Pine readily increase on the site (can be converted to woodland w/out fore). Cheatgrass and Medusahead invade sites that have lost deep rooted perennial grass functional groups. -
Perennial plant reproductive capability:
All species should be capable of reproducing annually
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