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Ecological site F023XY029NV

POTR5/PONE3-CAREX-ELTR7

Accessed: 09/28/2026

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General information

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	(1) Populus tremuloides
Shrub	Not specified
Herbaceous	(1) Poa (2) Carex

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Physiographic features

This forestland site occurs on terraces and drainageways immediately adjacent to spring-fed, perennial, mountain streams. Slopes range from 4 to 15 percent. Elevations are 4400 to over 7000 feet.

Table 2. Representative physiographic features

Landforms	(1) Drainageway
Flooding duration	Brief (2 to 7 days)
Flooding frequency	Occasional
Ponding frequency	None
Elevation	4400 – 7000 ft
Slope	4 – 15 %
Water table depth	15 – 84 in
Aspect	Aspect is not a significant factor

Climatic features

The climate associated with this site is semiarid and characterized by cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. Average annual precipitation is 14 or more inches. Mean annual air temperature is 40 to 43 degrees F. The average growing season is 70 to 100 days.

Nevada’s climate is predominantly arid, with large daily ranges of temperature, infrequent severe storms, heavy snowfall in the higher mountains, and great location variations with elevation. Three basic geographical factors largely influence Nevada’s climate: continentality, latitude, and elevation. Continentality is the most important factor. The strong continental effect is expressed in the form of both dryness and large temperature variations. Nevada lies on the eastern, lee side of the Sierra Nevada Range, a massive mountain barrier that markedly influences the climate of the State. The prevailing winds are from the west, and as the warm moist air from the Pacific Ocean ascend the western slopes of the Sierra Range, the air cools, condensation occurs and most of the moisture falls as precipitation. As the air descends the eastern slope, it is warmed by compression, and very little precipitation occurs. The effects of this mountain barrier are felt not only in the West but throughout the state, with the result that the lowlands of Nevada are largely desert or steppes. The temperature regime is also affected by the blocking of the inland-moving maritime air. Nevada sheltered from maritime winds, has a continental climate with well-developed seasons and the terrain responds quickly to changes in solar heating.
Nevada lies within the mid-latitude belt of prevailing westerly winds which occur most of the year. These winds bring frequent changes in weather during the late fall, winter and spring months, when most of the precipitation occurs. To the south of the mid-latitude westerlies, lies a zone of high pressure in subtropical latitudes, with a center over the Pacific Ocean. In the summer, this high-pressure belt shifts northward over the latitudes of Nevada, blocking storms from the ocean. The resulting weather is mostly clear and dry during the summer and early fall, with scattered thundershowers. The eastern portion of the state receives significant summer thunderstorms generated from monsoonal moisture pushed up from the Gulf of California, known as the North American monsoon. The monsoon system peaks in August and by October the monsoon high over the Western U.S. begins to weaken and the precipitation retreats southward towards the tropics (NOAA 2004).

Average annual precipitation is 16 to over 20 inches. Mean annual air temperature is 41 to 44 degrees F. The average growing season is about 50 to 70 days.

Mean annual precipitaion at the Bear Creek, Nevada SNOTEL station (170501020301) is 37.69 inches.

monthly mean precipitation is:
January 3.84; February 3.75; March 4.38; April 4.9;
May 3.99; June 2.82; July .95; August 1.66;
September 1.22; October 2.12;
November 3.67; December 4.38.

Table 3 Representative climatic features

Frost-free period (average)	90 days
Freeze-free period (average)	0 days
Precipitation total (average)	20 in

Bar

Line

Figure 1. Monthly precipitation range

Bar

Line

Figure 2. Monthly average minimum and maximum temperature

Figure 3. Annual precipitation pattern

Figure 4 Annual average temperature pattern

Soil features

The soils associated with this site are very deep and very poorly drained. These soils have a seasonally high water table within 10 to 20 inches of the surface. The water table normally stabilizes within 30 inches of the surface through a major portion of the growing season. The soils have a thick, dark, medium-textured surface layer. The underlying material is typically medium textured and slightly acid to mildly alkaline in reaction. Available water capacity is moderate and surface runoff is high depending on slope. These soils are susceptible to gullying which intercepts normal overflow patterns causing site degradation. The soil associated with this site are classified as Cumulic Cryaquolls Family.

Table 4. Representative soil features

Surface texture	(1) Very gravelly loam
Family particle size	(1) Loamy
Drainage class	Poorly drained
Permeability class	Moderately slow
Soil depth	72 – 84 in
Surface fragment cover <=3"	40 – 42 %
Surface fragment cover >3"	0 – 2 %
Available water capacity (0-40in)	5.6 – 5.7 in
Calcium carbonate equivalent (0-40in)	Not specified
Electrical conductivity (0-40in)	Not specified
Sodium adsorption ratio (0-40in)	Not specified
Soil reaction (1:1 water) (0-40in)	6.1 – 7.8
Subsurface fragment volume <=3" (Depth not specified)	6 – 42 %
Subsurface fragment volume >3" (Depth not specified)	0 – 2 %

Ecological dynamics

Fire Ecology:
The most important agent of disturbance in aspen forests before 1900 was fire, although other natural disturbances were locally important including windthrow, snow damage, hail, lightning, fungal diseases and insect damage. Most aspen forests in the West are seral and have been dependent upon fire for their perpetuation. If fire occurs at infrequent intervals (e.g. 50-150 years) and is intense enough to kill most of the aspen and competing conifers, then most aspen sites in the West will retain viable stands of aspen. Periodic wildfires prevent over-mature aspen stands and maintain a naturally stratified mosaic of even-aged aspen communities in various stages of successional development. Uneven-aged stands form under stable conditions where the overstory gradually disintegrates with disease or age, and is replaced by aspen suckers. Although aspen forests do not burn readily, aspen trees are extremely sensitive to fire. A severe fire will top-kill the aspen overstory and will stimulate abundant suckering. A severe fire also removes the duff and may kill roots. Repeated fires have a detrimental effect on site quality and can eliminate aspen from a site. Aspen is highly competitive on burned sites and has several adaptations to fire including the following: a) the thin bark has little heat resistance, and aspen is easily top-killed by fire, b) root systems of top-killed stems send up a profusion of sprouts for several years after fire, c)sprouts grow rapidly by extracting water, nutrients, and photosynthate from an extant root system, and may outcompete other woody vegetation, d)following fire, a new, even-aged quaking aspen stand can develop within a decade, and e) aspen is self-thinning and a mature forest of healthy trees can develop from dense sprouts. Willow will generally sprout from its root crown or stem base following fire. However, severe fires can completely remove organic soil layers, leaving willow roots exposed and charred, thus eliminating basal sprouting. Wood’s rose is typically top-killed by fire. Wood’s rose is moderately fire tolerant and is usually favored by low-severity fire. It can persist after low to moderate severity fire because of its ability to sprout from undamaged or buried root crowns and rhizomes. The shallow root crowns of Wood’s rose are susceptible to injury, and populations consequently decrease following high-severity fire. It occasionally germinated from on-site and off-site seed sources after fire. Nevada bluegrass is generally unharmed by fire. It produces little litter, and its small bunch size and sparse litter reduces the amount of heat transferred to perennating buds in the soil. The effects of fire on slender wheatgrass are dependent on its growth form. Tall, decadent plants with many leaves sustain the most fire damage, while those with short, sparse growth form, is the least likely to sustain damage to the root system during a fire. Sedge is top-killed by fire, with rhizomes protected by insulating soil. The rhizomes of sedge species may be killed by high-severity fires that remove most of the soil organic layer. Reestablishment after fire occurs by seed establishment and/or rhizomatous spread.

Major Successional Stages of Forest Development:

HERBACEOUS: Vegetation is dominated by grasses and forbs under full sunlight. This stage is experienced after a major disturbance such as fire, root-rot, insect damage, or tree harvest. Following a major disturbance, the root system gives rise to many root suckers, assuming the root system is intact and healthy. Residual trees left following harvest have little or no affect on the composition and production of the herbaceous vegetation.

SAPLING: Early growth of quaking aspen suckers ranges from less than 1 foot to more than 3 feet per year for shoots having good competitive position. In the absence of disturbance, suckers develop into saplings (to 4.5 feet in height) with a range in canopy cover of about 5 to 15 percent. Vegetation consists of grasses, forbs and a few shrubs in association with tree saplings.

POLE STAGE: As the canopy closes, trees stratify into crown classes quickly, despite genetic uniformity within clones. Aspen stands are self-thinning, especially at young ages. This stage is characterized by rapid growth of the aspen trees, both in height and canopy cover. The visual aspect and vegetal structure are dominated by aspen ranging from about 10 to 20 feet in height and having a diameter at breast height (DBH) of about 3 to 5 inches. Understory vegetation is moderately influenced by a tree canopy of about 15 to over 25 percent.

IMMATURE FORESTLAND: Growth of the aspen slows somewhat during this stage. There is a fairly continual adjustment of trees to growing space, and a loss in competitive position of many trees making up the codominant, intermediate and over-topped classes. When competition becomes intense enough to appreciably affect the diameter growth of dominants, mortality quickly reduces the number of trees in the lower crown classes. There are periodic surges in mortality, with a disproportionate number of trees, mostly those over-topped, dying within a short time. The visual aspect and vegetal structure are dominated by quaking aspen greater than 35 feet in height and having a diameter at breast height (DBH) of about 5 to 8 inches. Understory vegetation is moderately influenced by a tree overstory canopy of about 20 to 30 percent.

MATURE FORESTLAND: The visual aspect and vegetal structure are dominated by single-story quaking aspen that have reached, or are near, maximal heights for the site. Growth of aspen continues during this stage. Diameter growth shows recovery with the release of competition previously endured during the immature woodland stage. Tree heights range from 50 to over 70 feet with stem diameter at breast height (DBH) of 10 to over 15 inches, depending upon site and clone genotype. Trees have developed tall, straight, clear stems with short, narrow, dome-like crowns. Tree canopy cover ranges from 30 to 40 percent. Understory vegetation is strongly influenced by tree competition, overstory shading, and duff accumulation. Despite considerable forage production in the understory, the overstory trees do compete with the undergrowth for moisture, light, nutrients and space. Vegetative shoots and/or saplings of quaking aspen occur in the understory, but are inconspicuous and have a high mortality rate.

OVER-MATURE FORESTLAND: This stage is dominated by aspen that have reached maximal heights for the site. Trees have straight, clear stems. In the absence of natural disturbances, the tree canopy on this site can become very dense-often greater than 50 percent. As less light penetrates below the tree canopy, competitive relationships in the understory vegetation are altered. Although plants in the understory are shade tolerant, even these species progressively decrease in abundance and productivity as tree canopy cover increases. Over-mature aspen stands slowly die. As openings in the overstory are created through tree mortality, otherwise inconspicuous aspen suckers emerge on the forest floor. These suckers typically arise over a period of several years and the resulting stand is broadly even-aged. As even-aged stands reach old age without disturbance, stand deterioration is likely to extend over a long period due to the range of tree ages. In turn, a longer regeneration period and a new stand with an even greater range of ages results. If this process continues over several generations, an all-aged stand is established.

State and transition model

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Ecosystem states

1. Reference Plant Community

State 1 submodel, plant communities

1.1. Reference Plant Community

State 1
Reference Plant Community

Community 1.1
Reference Plant Community

The reference plant community is composed of one to several quaking aspen clones, each with a common genetic makeup resulting in distinct phenological and physiological characteristics. An overstory canopy of about 35 percent is assumed to be representative of tree dominance on this site in a pristine environment. Aspen communities are typically multi-layered. Sufficient light is able to penetrate the canopy to support abundant undergrowth. Overstory tree canopy composition is generally 100 percent quaking aspen. Small stands of Fremont cottonwood, black cottonwood, or narrowleaf cottonwood may sometimes be found intermingled with the aspen overstory. Sapling quaking aspen, willow, and Woods’ rose are the principal understory shrubs. Slender and streambank wheatgrasses, Nevada bluegrass, sedges, clover, yarrow, and groundsel are other important understory plants associated with this site.

Forest overstory.MATURE FORESTLAND: The visual aspect and vegetal structure are dominated by single-story quaking aspen that have reached, or are near, maximal heights for the site. Growth of aspen continues during this stage. Diameter growth shows recovery with the release of competition previously endured during the immature woodland stage. Tree heights range from 50 to over 70 feet with stem diameter at breast height (DBH) of 10 to over 15 inches, depending upon site and clone genotype. Trees have developed tall, straight, clear stems with short, narrow, dome-like crowns. Tree canopy cover ranges from 30 to 40 percent. Understory vegetation is strongly influenced by tree competition, overstory shading, and duff accumulation. Despite considerable forage production in the understory, the overstory trees do compete with the undergrowth for moisture, light, nutrients and space. Vegetative shoots and/or saplings of quaking aspen occur in the understory, but are inconspicuous and have a high mortality rate.

Forest understory. Understory vegetative composition is about 65 percent grasses, 20 percent forbs and 15 percent shrubs and young trees when the average overstory canopy is medium (30 to 40 percent). Average understory production ranges from 1000 to 1600 pounds per acre with a medium canopy cover. Understory production includes the total annual production of all species within 4½ feet of the ground surface.

Figure 5. Annual production by plant type (representative values) or group (midpoint values)

Table 5. Annual production by plant type

Plant type	Low (lb/acre)	Representative value (lb/acre)	High (lb/acre)
Grass/Grasslike	650	845	1040
Forb	200	260	320
Shrub/Vine	100	130	160
Tree	50	65	80
Total	1000	1300	1600

Additional community tables

Table 6. Community 1.1 plant community composition

Group	Common name	Symbol	Scientific name	Annual production ()	Foliar cover (%)
Grass/Grasslike
1	Primary Perennial Grasses/Grasslikes			455–819
	Dore's needlegrass	ACNED	Achnatherum nelsonii ssp. dorei	65–117	–
	sedge	CAREX	Carex	65–117	–
	thickspike wheatgrass	ELLAL	Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus	65–117	–
	slender wheatgrass	ELTRT	Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus	65–117	–
	rush	JUNCU	Juncus	65–117	–
	Kentucky bluegrass	POPR	Poa pratensis	65–117	–
2	Secondary Perennial Grasses			26–130
	mountain brome	BRMA4	Bromus marginatus	13–65	–
	Idaho fescue	FEID	Festuca idahoensis	13–65	–
Forb
3	Perennial			52–260
	yarrow	ACHIL	Achillea	13–65	–
	ragwort	SENEC	Senecio	13–65	–
	meadow-rue	THALI2	Thalictrum	13–65	–
	clover	TRIFO	Trifolium	13–65	–
Shrub/Vine
4	Primary Shrubs			130–234
	Woods' rose	ROWO	Rosa woodsii	65–117	–
	willow	SALIX	Salix	65–117	–
Tree
5	Deciduous			13–65
	quaking aspen	POTR5	Populus tremuloides	13–65	–

Interpretations

Animal community

Livestock Interpretations:
This site is suited to cattle and sheep grazing during the summer and early fall. Livestock tend to concentrate on quaking aspen communities during the summer seeking shade and the green, succulent understory forage. Cattle select for understory grasses and grass-like plants while sheep tend to select for forbs.

Browsing has a direct impact on aspen. Through the early sapling stage, browsing reduces aspen growth, vigor and numbers. Heavy browsing by livestock or deer and elk can eliminate aspen sucker regeneration. Sheep browse the aspen with increasing pressure through the late summer and early fall. Browsing is incidental to grazing by cattle. If grazing is light to moderate, the effect on aspen is minimual. Suckers can be drastically reduced or eliminated by big game browsing on winter ranges. Aspen saplings need to attain a minimum height of 55 to 60 inches to avoid destructive browsing by livestock. Harvesting trees under a sound management program for fuelwood, posts or other products, can open up the tree canopy to allow increased production of understory species desirable for grazing and browsing.

Stocking rates vary with such factors as kind and class of grazing animal, season of use and fluctuations in climate. Actual use records for individual sites, a determination of the degree to which the sites have been grazed, and an evaluation of trend in site condition offer the most reliable basis for developing initial stocking rates.

Selection of initial stocking rates for given grazing units is a planning decision. This decision should be made ONLY after careful consideration of the total resources available, evaluation of alternatives for use and treatment, and establishment of objectives by the decision-maker.

The forage value rating is not an ecological evaluation of the understory as is the range condition rating for rangeland. The forage value rating is a utilitarian rating of the existing understory plants for use by specific kinds of grazing animals.

Wildlife Interpretations:
Quaking aspen communities provide important habitat for many species of birds and mammals. This is especially true where these woodlands are the only upland hardwood tree species. Mule deer and elk will use aspen woodlands for forage, thermal cover, and escape cover during severe weather and times of harassment. Birds using aspen during the breeding season include the western tanager, common nighthawk, mourning dove, Swainson's hawk and various species of bluebird, thrush and flycatcher. Birds using aspen during their wintering period include the Ruby-crowned kinglet, Townsend's solitaire, rough-legged hawk, Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned hawk and various species of finch and waxwing. Those using aspen yearlong or as migrants include the American robin, American kestrel, mountain chickadee, scrub jay, yellow-bellied sapsucker, long-eared owl, screech owl, great-horned owl, California quail, red-tailed hawk, golden eagle, and various species of sparrow, nuthatch and woodpecker. Commonly associated mammals using the aspen community type include various species of shrew, myotis, bat, mouse and vole. Some very common species include deer mouse, Nuttall's cottontail, least chipmunk, Western gray squirrel, bushy-tailed woodrat, raccoon, long-tailed weasel and the North American porcupine. The mountain lion and bobcat use edges and sometimes the interior of the aspen community for hunting.

Hydrological functions

Runoff is high. Permeability is moderately slow.

Recreational uses

Aesthetic value is derived from the rich hues and textures of the aspen trees, particularly in the fall. The diverse flora and fauna, and the colorful wildflowers in the summer enhance the beauty of this site. The site offers rewarding opportunities to photographers and for nature study. It has high value for hunting, camping, picnicking, cross country skiing and family wood gathering. Management of the aspen woodland should include small, irregularly shaped clearcuts that blend into the natural landscape. Harvesting plans should include a mix of even-aged aspen patches in all size classes. Aspen fits well into management for dispersed recreation activities, but does not tolerate concentrated use, as found in established campgrounds. Encouraging concentrated recreation or developing campgrounds within aspen stands can lead to serious damage, including carving on trees, vandalism, destruction or removal of young suckers and trampling and disturbance of the soil.

Wood products

Historically, quaking aspen has been used for mine props, posts, bridge planking, flooring, furniture and fuelwood. This tree has a considerable potential for increased utilization. It makes excellent pulp, excelsior, door corestock, paper, particleboard, matchsticks, structural flakeboard, lumber products and boxwood.

PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY

This site has fair to moderate site quality for tree production. Site index ranges from 45 to 55; Site Class IV (Baker, 1925).

Productivity class: 2
CMAI*: 20 to 28 ft3/ac/yr
1.4 to 2.0 m3/ha/yr

*CMAI: is the culmination of mean annual increment or highest average growth rate of the stand in the units specified.

Fuelwood Production: 8 to 10 cords per acre at 80 years (includes all trees greater than six inches dbh to a top diameter of five inches). There are about 203,000 gross British Thermal Units (BTUs) heat content per cubic foot of quaking aspen wood. Firewood is commonly measured by cord, or a stacked unit equivalent to 128 cubic feet. Solid wood volume in a cord varies, but assuming an average of 75 cubic feet of solid wood per cord, there are about 15.2 million BTUs of heat value in a cord of quaking aspen.

Saw timber: 200 board-feet per acre at 80 years.

MANAGEMENT GUIDES AND INTERPRETATIONS

1. LIMITATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS
a. Moderate to severe equipment limitations through the early summer in most years due to wet soils.

b. Proper spacing is the key to a well managed, multiple use and multi-product aspen forest.

c. To begin short-rotation management, older stands with larger trees need to be harvested.

d. Cut residual unmerchantable trees to stimulate maximum sucker regeneration and rapid development of a replacement stand-thin resulting sucker stands.

e. Soil compaction and erosion hazards are greatest if logging is done with heavy equipment when soils are saturated in late spring. Logging at this time is most damaging to aspen roots, which can reduce suckering. Root carbohydrate reserves are lowest in the spring and harvesting at this time can further reduce sprouting.

2. ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
a. Adequately protect from high intensity wildfire.
b. Protect soils from accelerated erosion.
c. Apply proper grazing management.

3. SILVICULTURAL PRACTICES
a. Harvest Cutting: Selectively harvest surplus trees to achieve desired spacing. Harvest stands in small blocks of 1/5 to 1/2 acre with slash left in place to shelter emerging aspen suckers from browsing.

1) Clear-Cutting - Clear-cutting is appropriate when the primary management objective is sustained production of forest products, either saw timber or fiber. Cutting sub-merchantable stems along with the merchantable ones will maximize sucker production, will minimize the presence of diseased or defective growing stock in the new stand, and will avoid suppression of the new crop by residual overstory stems.

2) Partial Cutting - Partial cutting may be feasible in some uneven-aged stands where management objectives require vertical canopy diversity or retention of some overstory; partial cutting may result in enough sprouting to adequately regenerate stands. Individual tree or group selection cutting methods can be applied. Extreme care is necessary to avoid injury to residual stems during logging. Partial cutting is not worthwhile in deteriorated aspen clones where root system die back has reduced suckering.

3) Selective Tree Removal: Remove selected trees on suitable sites to enhance forage production and manage site reproduction.

b. Thinning - Ordinarily, only stands on saw timber sites should be thinned. Pre-commercial thinning may be uneconomical as the low productivity of this site would not justify thinning costs.

c. Protection from Disease - There are no proven forest stand treatments that successfully prevent or control disease in aspen. Maintenance of well-stocked stands, minimizing wounding of stems and control of damaging agents, and harvesting at the proper rotation age are the best management recommendations that can be made today.

d. Protection from Insects - Direct control of insects in aspen forests has not been practical. The environmental side-effects from chemical pesticide spraying usually has not been acceptable in the aspen ecosystem. Maintenance of a well-stocked stand and protection from wounding is the most practical method of coping with insects in the aspen forest.

e. Protection from Mammals - Domestic livestock, wild ungulates, porcupines, rodents and hares utilize aspen as food and can have measurable impacts on some stands. Most animal damage can be prevented by careful husbandry of domestic livestock and by population control of wild game. Because most aspen stands are grazed by cattle and/or sheep and have a significant population of wild ungulates, grazing management and game management are important to aspen communities.

f. Fire Management - Fire is a natural feature of the aspen ecosystem. Fire is considered responsible for the abundance of aspen in the west as well as the even-aged structure of many stands. Without human intervention, fire appears to be necessary for the continued well-being of aspen on sites where natural degeneration of the clone occurs, or where insects or pests are especially harmful to the stand. Fires in aspen generally are infrequent, spread slowly, are of low intensity, and are easy to control.

Other products

Native Americans used the leaves of willows to treat mosquito bites, bee stings and stomach aches and used to stems for implements such as baskets, arrow shafts, scoops and fish traps.

Other information

Quaking aspens are used to stabilize soil and watersheds. The trees produce abundant litter that contains more nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and calcium than leaf litter of most other hardwoods. The litter decays rapidly, forming nutrient-rich humus that may amount to 25 tons per acre (oven-dry basis). The humus reduces runoff and aids in percolation and recharge of ground water. An undesirable characteristic of the quaking aspen stand is their heavy drain on available water in the soil. Willow is useful in stabilizing streambanks and providing erosion control on severely disturbed sites. It is valuable in revegetating disturbed riparian sites having high water tables and low elevations. Wood’s rose extensive rhizomes, and good survivability and revegetation characteristics even on harsh sites makes this species an effective tool in erosion control. It has also been suggested as a useful species for revegetation on high pH and lime soils. Wood’s rose is used to revegetate disturbed sites along streambanks and seeps. Slender wheatgrass is widely used for revegetating disturbed lands. Slender wheatgrass is a short-lived perennial with good seedling vigor. It germinates and establishes quickly when seeded making it a good choice for quick cover on disturbed sites. It persists long enough for other, slower developing species to establish. It is especially valuable for use in saline soils. It has been used for rehabilitating mine spoils, livestock ranges, and wildlife habitat and watershed areas.

Table 7. Representative site productivity

Common name	Symbol	Site index low	Site index high	CMAI low	CMAI high	Age of CMAI	Site index curve code	Site index curve basis	Citation
quaking aspen	POTR5	45	55	20	28	–	–	–

Supporting information

Type locality

Location 1: Humboldt County, NV
Township/Range/Section	T42N R26E S26
UTM zone	N
UTM northing	335186
UTM easting	4599156
Latitude	41° 31′ 37″
Longitude	118° 58′ 31″
General legal description	Along Mahogany Creek, west side of Pine Forest range, Humboldt County, Nevada. This site also occurs in Washoe County, Nevada.

Other references

Airola, D. A. 1980. Northeast Interior Zone: Vol. III - Birds & Vol. IV - Mammals. U.S. Gov. Printing Off.: 1980-690-082/26.

Baker, F. S. 1925. Aspen in the central Rocky Mountain region. USDA, Bulletin 1291, 47 p. Washington D.C.

DeByle, N. V., and R.P. Winokur, editors. 1985. Aspen: Ecology and Management in the Western United States. General Technical Report RM-119, Rocky Mtn For & Rng Exp Sta, FS, USDA.

DeByle, N.V., P.J. Urness, and D.L. Blank. 1989. Forage Quality in Burned and Un-burned Aspen Communities. Research Paper INT-404. Inter. Res. Sta., FS, USDA.

Fire Effects Information System (Online; http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/).

Howell, J. 1940. Pinyon and juniper: a preliminary study of volume, growth, and yield. Regional Bulletin 71. Albuquerque, NM: USDA, NRCS; 90p.

USDA-NRCS Plants Database (Online; http://www.plants.usda.gov).

Contributors

FR/GKB

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
Approved by
Approval date
Composition (Indicators 10 and 12) based on	Annual Production

Indicators

Number and extent of rills:
Presence of water flow patterns:
Number and height of erosional pedestals or terracettes:
Bare ground from Ecological Site Description or other studies (rock, litter, lichen, moss, plant canopy are not bare ground):
Number of gullies and erosion associated with gullies:
Extent of wind scoured, blowouts and/or depositional areas:
Amount of litter movement (describe size and distance expected to travel):
Soil surface (top few mm) resistance to erosion (stability values are averages - most sites will show a range of values):
Soil surface structure and SOM content (include type of structure and A-horizon color and thickness):
Effect of community phase composition (relative proportion of different functional groups) and spatial distribution on infiltration and runoff:
Presence and thickness of compaction layer (usually none; describe soil profile features which may be mistaken for compaction on this site):
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:

Sub-dominant:

Other:

Additional:
Amount of plant mortality and decadence (include which functional groups are expected to show mortality or decadence):
Average percent litter cover (%) and depth ( in):
Expected annual annual-production (this is TOTAL above-ground annual-production, not just forage annual-production):
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 plant reproductive capability:

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