Ecological dynamics
This area has a long history of past prehistoric human use for thousands of years. They used pinyon-juniper woodlands for hunting, fuelwood, for food, such as pinon nuts. MLRA 36 have archaeological evidence indicating pinyon-juniper woodlands where modified by prehistoric humans and not pristine and thus where altered at the time of European settlement (Cartledge & Propper, 1993). This area is characterize by broken topography, and lack of perennial water sources. Most pinyon-juniper Northern half of MLRA 36 (Colorado and Utah) can be describe as a persistent woodland type. There is a winter-summer bimodal precipitation pattern on the Colorado Plateau. Meaning that this site developed under climatic conditions that include wet, cold winters, and hot, dry summers with summer rains. This area so included natural influences of herbivory, fire, and climate. This area rarely served as habitat for large herds of native herbivores or large frequent historic fires due to the broken topography. The precipitation and climate of MLRA 36 are conducive to producing Pinyon/juniper, and sagebrush complexes.
Pinyon-Juniper expansion began during the late 1800s into deeper well drained soils. (Tausch et al. 1981, Miller and Tausch, 2001). The causes of woodland expansion are often attributed to an reduction in fires, introduction of livestock grazing, shifts in climate, and increases in atmospheric CO2 (Miller and Rose 1999). Prior to European settlement, PJ woodland species were primarily found on shallow soils and rocky ridges. Few fire history studies and pinyon-juniper chronologies have been done in the southwest. It appears that woodland on the Colorado Plateau are more susceptible to die off from severe drought (Miller and Tausch, 2001). Historically, fires before European settlement in the southwest occurred late spring to mid-summer (Miller and Tausch, 2001).
Historic fire return intervals (300-1000 years) are long, possibly indicating that fire did not play a frequent role in community dynamics. Pinyon and Juniper communities near Mesa Verde were established before European settlement with a fire return interval approximately 400 years (Floyd et al., 2000). Shinneman and Baker (2009) estimated the FRI on the Uncompahgre Plateau to be 400 to 600 years. Mesa Verde (Floyd et al., 2000) and Uncompahgre (Shinneman and Baker, 2009) are in the foothills/upland zone (12 to 16 inches annual precipitation) in MLRA 36. One other known study in the Colorado National Monument on the north eastern part of the Uncompahgre Plateau suggest that lower ecological site zone (semi-desert) (9 to 12 inches of annual precipitation) have a fire return interval of 300 to 1,000 years (Kennard and Moore, 2013). One other difference is that in the semi-desert zone smaller fire of only a few trees maybe more common than the infrequent larger fires found in other studies.
In lower elevations and lower precipitation areas, Utah Juniper maybe dominant over Pinyon. As the precipitation increase and effect moisture increase so will pinyon. The lower end of the pinyon-juniper woodland would be almost entirely Utah Juniper with the reverse happening and pinyon being dominant in the upper end of the pinyon-juniper belt.
The driving factors in Pinyon Juniper woodlands seem to be weather patterns. Drought and insects outbreaks appear to be the main driving factors for mortality in many of the Pinyon/Juniper communities. (Shinneman and Baker, 2009, Floyd et al., 2004) Wet periods seem to enhance and promote pinyon and juniper establishment. Betancourt (1993), noted that Pinyon and Juniper woodlands in the southwest appear to be more susceptible to large die offs during droughts, than in other locations. As severe droughts persist, the Pinyon trees, being more susceptible to drought and insects, seem to die out, while the Utah juniper trees survive. This action could open the canopy for a few years and with sufficient moisture, grasses and forbs would be expected to respond favorably. Two studies illustrated this on the Uncompahgre Plateau found that pinyon began increasing in the 1700s, during a wet period that followed a long dry period. So, tree infill and expansion began before European settlement. Associated fire reduction and livestock grazing effect of European settlers can after the trees started the current expansion. Since the 1900s there has been 2 very wet period in the southwest, during 1900s to 1920s and 1970s to 1990s. These periods saw an increase in Pinon establishment. During the drought of the 1950s and the drought mid-1990s to early 2000s, Pinyon mortality was extensive. (Romme, et al. 2009)
Disturbances such as improper grazing (continuous season long grazing, heavy stocking rates, etc.), recreation activities, etc., can remove herbaceous vegetation and compact the soils. The unpredictability of the annual growing conditions make these communities susceptible to the loss of understory and the resulting accelerated erosion. This ecological site has been grazed by domestic livestock since they were introduced into the area, though grazing has been light due to the lack of water and difficult terrain. The introduction of domestic livestock and the use of fencing and reliable water sources have influenced the disturbance regime of this site. As of this date, invasive annual grasslands that are so common in the Great Basin after a severe disturbance are not as prevalent in MLRA 36, potentially due to the remote location, the climate, and/or the soils.
PJ fire intervals can be influences by the landscape it occurs on. PJ that is complexed with sagebrush site would burn more frequently do to the fine fuels in the sagebrush sites to start the fires. So, the more rough broken terrain would burn less frequently than the gentler and broader landscapes. PJ sites on the Colorado Plateau generally don’t have enough fine fuels to start large scale fires. The exception would be several wet years in a row that would create the fine fuels necessary for a fire to start.
As vegetation communities respond to changes in management or natural occurrences, thresholds can be crossed, which usually means that a return to the previous state may not be possible without major energy inputs. The amount of energy input needed to affect vegetative shifts depends on the present biotic and abiotic features and the desired results.
Pinyon-juniper sites were treated as one vegetation dynamic type when developing the provision ecological site initiative for MLRA 36. These sites will need to be altered as more data and knowledge in the future becomes available. Variability in climate, soils, aspect and complex biological processes will cause the plant communities to differ. These factors contributing to annual production variability include wildlife use, drought, and insects. Factors contributing to special variability include soil texture, depth, rock fragments, slope, aspect, and micro-topography. The species lists are representative and not a complete list of all occurring or potentially occurring species on this site. The species lists are not intended to cover the full range of conditions, species and responses of the site. The State & Transition model depicted for this site is based on available research, field observations and interpretations by experts and could change as knowledge increases. As more data is collected, some of these plant communities may be revised or removed, and new ones may be added. The following diagram does not necessarily depict all the transitions and states that this site may exhibit, but it does show some of the most common plant communities.
State 1
Reference State
This state represents the natural variability and dynamics of this site that occurred naturally. This state includes the dominant biotic communities that would have occurred on this ecological site prior to European Settlement. The dominant aspect of this site is Pinyon and Utah Juniper with an understory of shrubs and associated grasses. Fluctuations in species compositions and relative production may change from year to year dependent upon abnormal precipitation or other climatic factors. The primary disturbance mechanisms for this site in reference condition include drought, insects, and infrequent fire. Because catastrophic disturbances like a crown fire or drought happen with long intervals, these communities have long periods of succession, (i.e. long periods of dense Pinyon and Juniper)—300-600 years in upland/foothills ecological site zone and 300 to 1,000 in semi-desert ecological site zone. According to Shinneman (2006), the pinon-juniper zone on the Uncompahgre Plateau typically burns in high-intensity, stand-replacing fires with a 400–600 years rotation (Shinneman, 2006). In the semi-arid environment of this ecological site, fine fuels are typically not continuous, reducing the likelihood of short fire return intervals. Typically, fires occurred in late spring through mid-summer following several wet years that allowed the fine fuels to become more contiguous (Baisan and Swetnam, 1990, and Swetnam and Baisan, 1996). The higher in elevation and higher precipitation area would burn more frequently as they would have more fine fuels in the understory. The timing of drought, and fire, coupled with surface disturbance can dictate whether the community can stay within the reference state or if the community transitions into another state.
Community 1.1
Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
A well-developed understory with a canopy of younger Pinyon and Utah juniper. At this stage Utah juniper may be dominant over Pinyon. Pinyon trees are more susceptible to drought, insects, and disease than Utah Juniper trees. In fact, it is difficult to identify methods beside fire that naturally reduce Utah juniper. After long periods of drought weaken the Pinyon trees, beetle kills can become quite extensive, especially after the droughts. Drought periods can also weaken and reduce the understory. Plant establishment is mainly limited by the available moisture. Biological crusts can be highly developed and diversified in the large interspaces between trees.
The plant community is about 35 percent grasses, 10 percent forbs, 25 percent shrubs and 30% trees air dry weight.
The following is from the 1988 Range Site:
The dominant grasses are Indian ricegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. Other grasses are galleta, needle-and-thread, and western wheatgrass. Forbs that make up the plant community are aster, fleabane, scarlet globemallow, penstemon, and timber poisonvetch.
The principal shrubs that occur on this site are shadscale and Wyoming big sagebrush.
If ecological retrogression is cattle-induce desirable grasses will decrease. However, if retrogression is sheep-induced, desirable forbs and shrubs may be reduced. Deterioration of this site caused by over grazing of cattle will decrease the percentage of grasses such as Indian ricegrass and needle-and-thread. With the decrease of the above mentioned plants, broom snakeweed, fringed sagebrush, and Wyoming big sagebrush will increase initially. Forbs such as aster, desert princesplume, and hoods phlox will also increase. Plant species likely to invade the site are cheatgrass, Russian thistle, kochia, halogeton, and broom snakeweed.
Basal area (the area of ground surface covered by perennial vegetation at ground level) is approximately 10-15 percent.
Table 5. Annual production by plant type
| Plant type |
Low
(lb/acre) |
Representative value
(lb/acre) |
High
(lb/acre) |
| Grass/Grasslike |
75 |
150 |
225 |
| Tree |
125 |
175 |
225 |
| Shrub/Vine |
75 |
125 |
175 |
| Forb |
25 |
50 |
75 |
| Total |
300 |
500 |
700 |
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 1.2
Mature Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
Mature pinyon and Utah juniper woodland characterized this community phase. When weather patterns favor an increase of pinyon and Utah juniper canopy with the associated understory of shrubs, grasses and forbs. Depending on the timing of precipitation, cool season grasses, like Indian ricegrass or warm season grasses like galleta could be dominant. Interspaces supporting highly developed biological crusts are common.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 1.3
Perennial Shrubland with scattered PJ
The overall aspect of this community phase is grasses and shrubs with scattered pinyon and Utah juniper. The herbaceous understory has a mix of grasses and forbs. This community phase is a result of a crown fire or sufficiently large and hot ground fire that will kill many of the trees, combined with sufficient seed-banks and moisture for reestablishment of grasses and forbs. It is common that after a crown fire many patches of trees will remain unburned, because of fire’s unpredictability and broken topography. This leaves a seed bank for the burned areas. This community phase is very short lived in comparison to the other community phases in this state.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Pathway 1.1A
Community 1.1 to 1.2
This pathway occurs when events create a wetter climate cycle, favor pinyon and perennial bunch grass establishment. Following several favorable precipitation years and lack of surface disturbances, native perennial plants will reestablish.
Pathway 1.1B
Community 1.1 to 1.3
This pathway is very unlikely, but can occur when a fire is able to move through the community. Two situations can make this occur: 1) a fire can carry in the understory after several wet years allow fine fuels to accumulate, or 2) as the woodland approaches the later stages of development where canopies become dense and crown sizes have increased, and thus community phase becomes susceptible to crown fires.
Pathway 1.2A
Community 1.2 to 1.1
This pathway occurs during and after events such as drought or insect/pathogen outbreaks. Droughts and insects can kill the trees, increasing nutrient availability in the system. Due to the natural conditions of drought, grasses typically do not take up the extra nutrients in the long term. In the short term, grasses and forbs may increase for a few years until juniper and pinyon recover.
Pathway 1.2B
Community 1.2 to 1.3
This pathway is very unlikely but can occur when a fire is able to move through the community phase. Two situations can make this occur: 1) a fire can carry in the understory after several wet years allow fine fuels to accumulate, or 2) as the woodland approaches the later stages of development where canopies become dense and crown sizes have increased, and thus community phase becomes susceptible to crown fires.
Pathway 1.3A
Community 1.3 to 1.1
This pathway occurs when the climate favors the establishment and growth of trees. More energy is taken-up and stored in the trees as the length between fires and droughts increase. In addition, when shrubs establish on the site they can provide safe-sites for tree establishment furthering the presence of trees.
State 2
Current Potential State
This state is very similar to the reference state, except that non-native grasses and/or forbs are now present in all community phases. The current potential state may include introduced (seeded) or invasive nonnative species. The invasive plants are present in sparse amounts in this state. Natural disturbance are still drought, insects, and infrequent fires still influence the community shifts. The human caused disturbance drivers (i.e. domestic livestock grazing, vegetation manipulation, and recreational activities (i.e. OHV use)) are now present. This shift in species composition could affect nutrient cycling, hydrology and soil stability. At this time there is no known way to effectively remove the non-native plants from the site once they have become established. State 2 is in jeopardy of moving to State 3 (Pinyon-Juniper Invasive State) when remaining native understory plants are stressed and invasive species have increased till they are dominant.
Community 2.1
Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
A well-developed understory with a canopy of younger Pinyon and Utah juniper. At this stage Utah juniper may be dominant over Pinyon. Pinyon trees are more susceptible to drought, insects, and disease than Utah Juniper trees. In fact, it is difficult to identify methods beside fire that naturally reduce Utah juniper. After long periods of drought weaken the Pinyon trees, beetle kills can become quite extensive, especially after the droughts. Drought periods can also weaken and reduce the understory. Plant establishment is mainly limited by the available moisture. Biological crusts can be highly developed and diversified in the large interspaces between trees. Sparse invasive introduced plants species would be present in this phase.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 2.2
Mature Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
Mature pinyon and Utah juniper woodland with a well-developed understory would characterized this community phase. This phase supports a diverse understory of grasses, forbs and shrubs. Depending on the timing of precipitation, cool season grasses, like Indian ricegrass or warm season grasses like galleta could be dominant. Interspaces supporting highly developed biological crusts are common. Sparse invasive introduced plants species would be present in this phase.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 2.3
Perennial Shrubland with PJ
The overall aspect of this community phase is grassland with scattered pinyon and Utah juniper. The herbaceous understory has a mix of grasses and forbs. This community phase is a result of a crown fire or sufficiently large and hot ground fire that will kill many of the trees, combined with sufficient seed-banks and moisture for reestablishment of grasses and forbs. It is common that after a crown fire many patches of trees will remain unburned, because of fire’s unpredictability and broken topography. This leaves a seed bank for the burned areas. This community phase is very short lived in comparison to the other community phases in this state. Sparse invasive introduced plants species would be present in this phase.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Pathway 2.1A
Community 2.1 to 2.2
This pathway occurs when events create a wetter climate cycle, favor Pinyon and perennial bunch grass establishment. Following several favorable precipitation years and lack of surface disturbances, native perennial bunch grasses and forbs will reestablish.
Pathway 2.1B
Community 2.1 to 2.3
This pathway is very unlikely, but can occur when a fire or vegetation manipulation happens to the trees. Two situations can make this occur: 1) a fire can carry in the understory after several wet years allow fine fuels to accumulate, or 2) as the woodland approaches the later stages of development where canopies become dense and crown sizes have increased, and thus community phase becomes susceptible to crown fires. Seeding after the tree removal may be necessary to help facilitate the return of understory species. Seeding depending on the species may take this community phase into state 4 (Seeded State).
Pathway 2.2A
Community 2.2 to 2.1
This pathway occurs during and after events such as drought or beetle infestations. Droughts and insects can kill pinyon trees, increasing nutrient availability in the system. Due to the natural conditions of drought, grasses typically do not take up the extra nutrients in the long term. In the short term, grasses and forbs may increase for a few years until Juniper recover. Utah Juniper are more able to compete for these nutrients and became the dominant overstory tree over time.
Pathway 2.2B
Community 2.2 to 2.3
This pathway is very unlikely to occur naturally with fire. But, vegetation manipulation can be used to remove trees. Two situations occur naturally: 1) a fire can carry in the understory after several wet years allow fine fuels to accumulate, or 2) as the woodland approaches the later stages of development where canopies become dense and crown sizes have increased, and thus community phase becomes susceptible to crown fires. Seeding after the tree removal may be necessary to help facilitate the return of understory species. Seeding depending on the species may take this community phase into state 4 (Seeded State).
Pathway 2.3A
Community 2.3 to 2.1
This pathway occurs when the climate favors the establishment and growth of trees. More energy is taken-up and stored in the trees as the length between fires and droughts increase. In addition, when shrubs establish on the site they can provide safe-sites for tree establishment furthering the presence of trees.
State 3
Pinyon-Juniper Invasive State
This state occurs when there is an absence of natural disturbance (i.e. Insects and drought and/or fire) over long time frames (Zlatnik, 1999). Also, management actions could have allowed trees to become very mature and have effectively closed out the understory. Invasive plants have increased in abundance. This state has the lowest resiliency and resistance of any state in this model. There may be no practicable way back to the Current Potential State (State 2), due to the large amounts of energy and monetary inputs that are needed. Seeding, with either natural disturbance and/or vegetation management to transition it to State 3 (Seeded State) may be the best long term option for this site.
Community 3.1
PJ Woodland with Invasive Plants
A lack of understory with a canopy of older Pinyon and Juniper, where plant interspaces very large and connected. This community phase occurs when natural or management actions allow for the increase in Pinyon and Utah juniper and a decrease in the grass and forb understory. Invasive introduced plants species would be present in this phase and are increasing.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 3.2
Invasive Annuals
This state is characterized by annual grasses like cheatgrass, annual wheatgrass dominating the understory. Also, invasive forbs like storkbill, halogeton and others may be present. This community phase has active erosion under the pinyon and Utah juniper canopy. Utah Juniper has allelopathic effects on some plant (i.e. Sandberg bluegrass, blue grama), which cheatgrass does not appear to suffer this effect when growing under juniper canopies (Zlatnik, 1999).
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Pathway 3.1A
Community 3.1 to 3.2
This pathway occurs when events such as frequent fire or drought remove the trees and shrubs, and facilitate the continued establishment of cheatgrass or other invasive annuals. Cheatgrass will typically invade/increase in tree/shrub interspaces when PJ communities are degraded. Once the cheatgrass establishes the amount and continuity of fine fuels increases. This can reduce the fire return interval and shorten the time between fires. When fire eliminates the tree/shrub/native grass component, it completes the conversion to annual dominant community phase. Cheatgrass and other invasive annuals can persist for long periods of time. Once a fire or a drought removes the trees/shrubs, it is difficult to reestablish because, not only has the fire return interval been shortened to a time that will not allow seedling establish, the soil and other abiotic factors have been altered.
Pathway 3.2A
Community 3.2 to 3.1
This pathway is when there is a lack of fire and/or disturbance. The fire return interval lengthens. This could be done by having firebreaks and/or fire suppression which will allow the perennial species a chance to establish with natural processes or with vegetation manipulation.
State 4
Seeded State
This state is a result seeding plants species. Vegetation manipulation may or may not have been done depending on disturbance history of the location. The trees were removed and adapted grasses, forbs and shrubs are established. Plants can be native or introduced depending on the desired management goals. If grazing tolerant species were established these communities can better withstand grazing and other disturbances. Due to the shallow or rocky soils and unpredictable precipitations patterns, it is difficult to establish grasses from seed, so this state may be hard to achieve and require large energy inputs.
Community 4.1
Seeded Grassland/Shrubland
This community phase appears as a grassland with scattered shrubs and trees. The vegetative production is typically higher than in the current potential state, depending on grass species seeded; however the grass is still sparse due to the low water holding capacity of soils associated with pinyon and juniper.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Community 4.2
Seeded with PJ
This community phase has a dense under story of introduced grasses and forbs, but a canopy of pinyon and Utah juniper are establishing. Native perennial grasses, forbs, and shrubs may also be starting to establish. Interspaces are filled with biological crusts and herbaceous plants.
| Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
Pathway 4.1A
Community 4.1 to 4.2
This pathway occurs when events favor the establishment of shrubs and trees, including long periods without disturbances.
Pathway 4.2A
Community 4.2 to 4.1
This pathway occurs as trees and shrubs are removed from the community, either naturally through insect herbivory or through vegetation manipulation by man.
Transition T1A
State 1 to 2
This transition from the native perennial bunchgrass and shrub understory in the reference state to a state that has been invaded by naturalized species such as crested wheatgrass (blown in or seeded), cheatgrass, annual wheatgrass and other introduced or exotic plants. This transition occurs as natural and/or management actions favor an increase in non-native grasses and forbs, especially annuals. Possible events include the presence of invasive species, improper livestock grazing, extended droughts, and fire combined with an available seed source of non-native species.
Transition T2A
State 2 to 3
When this transition to state 3 occurs the site has lost much of its expected resistance and resilience. At this point natural and/or management actions have decreased the understory to a point where erosion increases. Reduced influence from fire, insects, and drought could cause the tree canopy to close, effectively reducing the herbaceous understory thus facilitating the transition. Improper grazing and or increase surface disturbance combined with periods of drought can facilitate this transition because soil stability is lost and susceptibility to soil loss increases.
Transition T2B
State 2 to 4
This transition is from tree canopy reduction and re-establishment of grasses and forbs. If the community is approaching state 3 (pinyon-juniper invasive state), due to a loss of understory and increase invasive plants this pathway of seeding could be preferable to doing nothing. This pathway may facilitate the recovery of the soils. The infrequent naturally occurring fires could also cause this transition. Reseeding after a fire may be the only way to successfully restore the ecological dynamics to a site. Either way this pathway involves large energy and monetary inputs by man.
Transition T3A
State 3 to 4
Vegetation treatment can transition it to a seeded state. Because of the soils (shallow and/or rocky) and the unpredictable precipitation, this pathway should be used cautiously. This pathway involves large energy and monetary inputs by man.
Transition T4A
State 4 to 3
This transition occurs when events favor the establishment and dominance of invasive annuals. Events may include an extended drought, surface disturbance such as off road vehicle use, and/or a shortened fire return interval, all of which can stress the native perennial bunchgrasses.
