Loamy

Description

The potential plant community of this site is a mixed grassland of warm- and cool-season, mid- and short perennial grasses (western wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, sideoats grama, little bluestem, vine-mesquite, black grama, fourwing saltbush, and winterfat ). Woody species occupy a minor, but more important, part of this plant community. Forbs are a minor component of this site. However, during years of abundant spring and fall moisture, a large variety of forbs occur throughout this site.

Resilience management

This site is poorly suited to continuous yearlong grazing or grazing continuously during the growing season.

Submodel

Description

This state is characterized by sod-bound blue grama. Other common plants in this phase are broom snakeweed, tree cholla, and oneseed juniper.

While full plant lists have not been compiled for this state, this is a much less productive plant community than the reference.

Under continuous yearlong grazing or grazing continuously during the growing season, species such as western wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, sideoats grama, little bluestem, vine-mesquite, black grama, fourwing saltbush, and winterfat will decrease in composition.

Characteristics and indicators

Legacy Statement:
"Typical site deterioration is characterized by low-vigor sod-like blue grama which will eventually become 80 to 95 percent of the plant community. This condition cuts the productivity of this site to almost nothing*. Further deterioration is typified by an increase in bare ground and an invasion of woody species such as juniper and pinyon, along with an increase in ring and mat muhly and broom snakeweed."

*Clearly, "almost nothing" could use clarification. Future ESD work should seek to quantify this decrease in productivity. In sod-bound form with severely truncated root systems, blue grama often has very low productivity in proportion to its canopy cover.