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BL / ENVS 448 Plant Biodiversity and Ecology

BL / ENVS 448 Plant Biodiversity and Ecology. Plant Communities of the Rocky Mountains. What are plant communities?. Often defined by major plant species / types Temperature and precipitation prevail Altitude determines the above Several types in Colorado

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BL / ENVS 448 Plant Biodiversity and Ecology

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  1. BL / ENVS 448 Plant Biodiversity and Ecology Plant Communities of the Rocky Mountains

  2. What are plant communities? • Often defined by major plant species / types • Temperature and precipitation prevail • Altitude determines the above • Several types in Colorado • From lowest (and hottest) to highest (and coldest)

  3. Desert and semi-desert • Mainly canyon country in the western part of the state • Less than 14 inches of rainfall • 4,000 to 6,500 feet in elevation • Lower areas dominated by shrubs like rabbitbrush and sagebrush • Higher areas dominated by Pinyon Pine and Juniper

  4. Rabbit brush and Pinyon Pine

  5. Moving on up - Grasslands • Dominated by grasses • 3,500 to 6,500 feet • More precipitation (about 20 inches) • Eastern third of Colorado • Can still find some sagebrush and rabbitbrush and cactus, but many more mixed grasses • Tall grass and short grass in Colorado

  6. Grasslands

  7. Bouteloua sp. Grasslands

  8. Big Will and Will J. in tallgrass

  9. Prickly Pear amongst the grasses

  10. Foothills • Includes mesa tops • 6,500 to 8,500 feet • Ponderosa pine, still some pinyon and juniper • Oak thickets (we only have one Gambel’s) • Mountain mahogany • 14 to 25 inches of precipitation

  11. Foothills

  12. Inspiration Point – sagebrush and P.J.

  13. Will J. enjoying the foothills

  14. Bobcat in the foothills

  15. Montane • Forest • Mixed conifer and aspen (most wide ranging tree in U.S.) • 8,000 to 10,000 feet • Understory vegetation is mostly shrubs • Willow shrubs in riparian areas • 18-30 inches of precipitation • ¼ to ½ as snowfall

  16. Montane Forests

  17. Pentaphylloides floribundaaka Rocky Mountain Cinquefoil

  18. Penstemon whippleanus

  19. Aquilegia caerulea

  20. Subalpine • Thick spruce/fir forests • Aspens only in lower elevation here • 25-40 inches of precipitation a year • Last zone before alpine

  21. Hard at work in Breckenridge

  22. More hard work in the montane /subalpine

  23. Mertensia ciliatamountain bluebell

  24. Castilleja rhexifolia X miniataIndian paintbrush

  25. Chaemerion danielsii

  26. Alpine • Alpine tundra (not arctic tundra) • Dwarf shrubs, herbs, and cushion plants • Above treeline (about 11,500 feet in CO) • 30-55 inches of moisture • Most as snowfall

  27. Above the trees

  28. Big horn sheep

  29. Eritrichium aretoidesalpine forget-me-not

  30. Gentiana parryi - Parry’s gentian

  31. Silene acaulis – moss campion

  32. TROPICAL ALPINE Azorella compacta

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