Foothills Fescue Range Plant Community Guide - Sustainable ...

Table of Contents
Section Page
Executive Summary............................................................................................................vi
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................vi
Comments on the First Approximation ............................................................................vii
Using the Guide - Major Topics ......................................................................................viii
Key to Range Plant Communities ................................................................................. .x
1.0 Introduction and Background ............................................................................ 1
1.1 This guide is an aide to range health assessment ....................................... 1
1.2 Ecological range sites and grassland plant communities................. ........2
2.0 Physiography, Climate and Soils of the Foothills Fescue Grassland ...............3
2.1 Overview .....................................................................................................3
2.2 Correlation of soils and range sites .. ......................................................10
2.3 Guidelines for determining range sites ................ ...................................14
3.0 Review of Grazing Research in the Foothills Fescue Prairie ..........................18
4.0 Previous Plant Community Studies ...................................................................22
4.1 Native plant communities ...................... ..................................................22
4.2 Modified plant communities ......................................................... ...........23
5.0 Classification Methods
5.1 Plant community classification methods ... .............................................25
6.0 Results ..................................................................................................................26
6.1 Range plant community summaries ........................................................32
7.0 Guidelines for Assessing Plant Community Structure, Soil Exposure and
Litter Abundance and Noxious Weeds. ............................................... ........... 63
7.1 Question 1 - Integrity and ecological status................................. ............50
7.2 Question 2 - Plant community structure ....................................... ...........51
7.3 Question 3 - Does the site retain moisture (litter standards) ....................52
7.4 Question 4 - Site/soil stability .................................................. ..............53
7.5 Question 5 - Noxious weed infestation .....................................................54
8.0 Literature cited ...................................................................................................69
Appendix 9.1 Range Site Types in the Grassland Natural Region ......................74
Appendix 9.2 A Concise Guide to Assist Users with AGRASID.......... ................76
Appendix 9.3 Outlier Plant Community Table ..................................... ............... 84
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