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Ecological site R030XA073NV

LIMY 3-5 PZ

Last updated: 2/18/2025
Accessed: 04/23/2025

Home / Esd catalog / MLRA 030X / Ecological site R030XA073NV

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General information

Provisional. A provisional ecological site description has undergone quality control and quality assurance review. It contains a working state and transition model and enough information to identify the ecological site.

Ecological site concept

This site occurs on fan piedmonts, alluvial fans, and alluvial plains. Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent, but slope gradients of 2 to 15 percent are typical. Elevations are 1000 to about 4000 feet.

Please refer to group concept R030XB005NV to view the provisional STM.

Associated sites

R030XA058NV	LIMY 5-7 P.Z.

R030XA058NV

LIMY 5-7 P.Z.

Similar sites

R030XA058NV	LIMY 5-7 P.Z. More productive site
R030XA059NV	GRAVELLY HILL 5-7 P.Z. ATCO codominant shrub

R030XA058NV

LIMY 5-7 P.Z.

More productive site

R030XA059NV

GRAVELLY HILL 5-7 P.Z.

ATCO codominant shrub

Table 1. Dominant plant species

Tree	Not specified
Shrub	(1) Larrea tridentata (2) Ambrosia dumosa
Herbaceous	Not specified

Download full description

Physiographic features

This site occurs on fan piedmonts, alluvial fans, and alluvial plains. Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent, but slope gradients of 2 to 15 percent are typical. Elevations are 1000 to about 4000 feet.

Table 2. Representative physiographic features

Landforms	(1) Fan piedmont (2) Alluvial fan
Elevation	1,000 – 4,000 ft
Slope	2 – 30%

Climatic features

The climate is hot and arid, with mild winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in summer, typical of the Mojave Desert. Average annual precipitation is about 3 to 5 inches. Mean annual air temperature is 60 to 72 degrees F. The average growing season is about 220 to 290 days.

Table 3. Representative climatic features

Frost-free period (average)	290 days
Freeze-free period (average)
Precipitation total (average)	5 in

Soil features

The soil associated with this site are shallow to moderately deep alluvium derived from mixed parent materials. Surface soils have high amounts of gravels and/or cobbles. Water intake rates are rapid and available water capacity is low. Runoff is medium and these soils are well drained.

Table 4. Representative soil features

Drainage class	Well drained

Ecological dynamics

Please refer to group concept R030XB005NV to view the provisional STM.

As ecological condition deteriorates, creosotebush, snakeweed, and white burrobrush increase. Species likely to invade this site are annual forbs and grasses such filaree and red brome.

Fire Ecology:
Fires in the Mojave desert are infrequent and of low severity because production of annual and perennial herbs seldom provides a fuel load capable of sustaining fire. Fire generally kills white bursage. However, most white bursage plants burned because their canopies contained numerous small branches in proximity to herbaceous fuels. Fires in creosotebush scrub were an infrequent event in pre-settlement desert habitats, because fine fuels from winter annual plants were probably sparse, only occurring in large amounts during exceptionally wet winters. Fire kills many creosotebush. Creosotebush is poorly adapted to fire because of its limited sprouting ability. Creosotebush survives some fires that burn patchily or are of low severity. White burrobrush establishes after fire via off-site seeds and sprouting. Because it seeds prolifically, white burrobrush can quickly colonize burned sites.

State and transition model

More interactive model formats are also available. View Interactive Models
Click on state and transition labels to scroll to the respective text

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 dominated by creosotebush. White bursage and desert pepperweed are other important shrubs of this site. Potential vegetative composition is about 10% grasses, 10% forbs and 80% shrubs. Approximate ground cover (basal and crown) is 3 to 7 percent.

Figure 1. 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)
Shrub/Vine	40	80	160
Forb	5	10	20
Grass/Grasslike	5	10	20
Total	50	100	200

Additional community tables

Table 6. Community 1.1 plant community composition

Group	Common name	Symbol	Scientific name	Annual production (lb/acre)	Foliar cover (%)
Grass/Grasslike
1	Perennial grasses			1–10
	Indian ricegrass	ACHY	Achnatherum hymenoides	1–5	–
	desert needlegrass	ACSP12	Achnatherum speciosum	1–5	–
	low woollygrass	DAPU7	Dasyochloa pulchella	1–5	–
2	Annual Grasses			1–10
Forb
3	Perennial forbs			1–10
	globemallow	SPHAE	Sphaeralcea	1–5	–
4	Annual forbs			1–10
	plantain	PLANT	Plantago	1–5	–
Shrub/Vine
5	Primary shrubs			34–80
	creosote bush	LATR2	Larrea tridentata	25–45	–
	burrobush	AMDU2	Ambrosia dumosa	5–20	–
	desert pepperweed	LEFR2	Lepidium fremontii	2–10	–
	burrobrush	HYSA	Hymenoclea salsola	2–5	–
6	Secondary shrubs			10–20
	shadscale saltbush	ATCO	Atriplex confertifolia	1–5	–
	jointfir	EPHED	Ephedra	1–5	–
	desert-thorn	LYCIU	Lycium	1–5	–
	pricklypear	OPUNT	Opuntia	1–5	–

Interpretations

Animal community

Livestock Interpretations:
This site has limited value for livestock grazing, due to the low forage production. Creosotebush is unpalatable to livestock. Consumption of creosotebush may be fatal to sheep. White bursage is of intermediate forage value. It is fair to good forage for horses and fair to poor for cattle and sheep. However, because there is often little other forage where white bursage grows, it is often highly valuable to browsing animals and is sensitive to browsing. Most domestic livestock generally do not prefer pepperweed as forage; however, domestic sheep and goats are known to graze thick stands of pepperweed in some areas. Cattle appear to occasionally browse desert pepperweed, but there seems to be no studies of its palatability.

Stocking rates vary over time depending upon season of use, climate variations, site, and previous and current management goals. A safe starting stocking rate is an estimated stocking rate that is fine tuned by the client by adaptive management through the year and from year to year.

Wildlife Interpretations:
Creosotebush is unpalatable to most browsing wildlife. White bursage is an important browse species for wildlife. Pepperweed is apparently inferior food and cover for wildlife compared to native vegetation that it replaces.

Hydrological functions

Water intake rates are rapid and available water capacity is low. Runoff is medium and these soils are well drained.

Other products

Creosotebush has been highly valued for its medicinal properties by Native Americans. It has been used to treat at least 14 illnesses. Twigs and leaves may be boiled as tea, steamed, pounded into a powder, pressed into a poultice, or heated into an infusion. White bursage is a host for sandfood, a parasitic plant. Sandfood was a valuable food supply for Native Americans. Native Americans used white burrobrush twigs and stems in several remedies. The twigs or leaves are mixed with all-thorn twigs, boiled, and the tea taken to treat skin rashes. The tea was used to relieve pain in the lungs and trachea, and to reduce swelling. Additionally, they use white burrobrush as a remedy for rheumatism.

Other information

Once established, creosotebush may improve sites for annuals that grow under its canopy by trapping fine soil, organic matter, and symbiont propagules. It may also increase water infiltration and storage. White bursage may be used to revegetate disturbed sites in southwestern deserts.

Supporting information

Other references

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

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

Contributors

Approval

Kendra Moseley, 2/18/2025

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	02/18/2025
Approved by	Kendra Moseley
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:

Download reference sheet