Ecological site F043BP913MT

F043BP904MT	Shallow Warm Woodland Group Shallow Warm Woodland and the Limy Warm Woodland are neighboring sites with the Shallow Warm Woodland being higher on the landscape. They share a similar plant species presence however the state and transition models and overall production are different

F043BP911MT	Upland Warm Woodland Group The Upland Warm Woodland and the Limy Warm Woodland have plant species overlap and have similar state and transition models however their overall site production are different.

Tree	(1) Pinus ponderosa (2) Pseudotsuga menziesii
Shrub	(1) Juniperus scopulorum (2) Artemisia tridentata
Herbaceous	(1) Pseudoroegneria spicata (2) Festuca campestris

Landforms	(1) Mountains > Hillside or mountainside (2) Mountains > Ridge (3) Mountains > Escarpment
Runoff class	Negligible to low
Flooding frequency	None
Elevation	3600 – 5550 ft
Slope	0 – 60 %
Aspect	NW, N, NE, E, SE

Frost-free period (characteristic range)	60-110 days
Freeze-free period (characteristic range)	100-140 days
Precipitation total (characteristic range)	10-20 in
Frost-free period (actual range)	50-110 days
Freeze-free period (actual range)	100-140 days
Precipitation total (actual range)	10-20 in
Frost-free period (average)	80 days
Freeze-free period (average)	120 days
Precipitation total (average)	20 in

Parent material	(1) Colluvium – sedimentary rock (2) Residuum – sedimentary rock
Surface texture	(1) Gravelly, channery loam
Drainage class	Well drained
Permeability class	Moderately slow to moderately rapid
Depth to restrictive layer	20 – 100 in
Soil depth	20 – 100 in
Surface fragment cover <=3"	0 – 20 %
Surface fragment cover >3"	0 – 6 %
Available water capacity (0-40in)	2.9 – 5.4 in
Calcium carbonate equivalent (0-10in)	15 – 0 %
Soil reaction (1:1 water) (0-10in)	7.4 – 8.4
Subsurface fragment volume <=3" (10-20in)	0 – 40 %
Subsurface fragment volume >3" (10-20in)	0 – 22 %

Ecological dynamics

1 - Reference State
1.1 Reference Community Phase: ponderosa pine dominant overstory; mix of grasses and shrubs understory

1.1A low intensity understory fire

1.2 Recent low-intensity fire phase: ponderosa pine dominant overstory; grass and forb understory

1.2A Time allowing understory recovery
T1A Fire suppression causing a decrease in ponderosa pine and increase density of doghair stand of Douglas fir

2 - Degraded Overstory State
2.1 Doghair stand of Douglas fir dominant with degraded understory

T1B Improper grazing management
R2A Forest thinning and prescribed fire to thin out the doghair stand of Douglas fir

3 - Degraded Understory State
3.1 Ponderosa pine dominant with heavily reduced cool-season bunchgrasses.

R3A Prescribed grazing management, time, integrated pest management

State and transition model

Custom diagram

Standard diagram

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Additional community tables

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	08/18/2026
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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Natural ResourcesConservation Service

Ecological site F043BP913MT

Limy Warm Woodland Group

Last updated: 3/01/2024 Accessed: 08/18/2026

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Ecological site concept

Associated sites

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Table 1. Dominant plant species

Natural Resources
Conservation Service

Last updated: 3/01/2024
Accessed: 08/18/2026