Mountain Loam 10-16 PZ South Park

Description

If ecological retrogression is cattle or elk induced desirable grasses decrease. Under continuous early spring grazing, western wheatgrass and Arizona Fescue will decrease relatively fast. Bottlebrush squirreltail, and prairie junegrass will initially increase, but with continued season long grazing, these too will decline giving room for slimstem muhly and blue grama to invade.

With retrogression, shrubs and half shrubs, such as desert low rabbitbrush and gray horsebrush increase along with forbs such as Oregon townsend daisy, shorts milkvetch, senecio species, and yellow eriogonum.

Basal area (the area of ground surface covered by the perennial vegetation measured one inch above the soil) is approximately 30 percent.

Submodel