Limestone Canyon Bottomland

Description

The Trees-Shrubs/Tallgrass Community is characterized by several plant community potentials resulting from different plant environments. Narrow canyon bottoms will have limited daily sunlight and will typically have a high canopy cover percentages of trees such as bigtooth maple, chinkapin oak, alligator juniper, and ponderosa pine. Shade tolerant grasses will coexist. As the bottomland widens, tree canopy cover decreases and shade intolerant grasses increase. Scouring flash floods and small wildfires will maintain a discontinuous mosaic of plant communities. Annual production ranges from 2450 to 5250 pounds per acre.

The Trees-Shrubs/Mid-Shortgrass Community is characterized by a herbaceous component that consists mostly of unpalatable mid and shortgrasses such as hairy grama and perennial threeawns. Tallgrasses such as yellow indiangrass, big bluestem, and littlebluestem will be subdominants. In some areas, shrubs such as sotol and catclaw mimosa will increase.

Submodel