Foothills Fescue Range Plant Community Guide - Sustainable ...

Foothills Rough Fescue - Idaho Fescue - Sedge - FFA2
(Festuca campestris - Festuca idahoensis - Carex spp.) Herbaceous
n=28 This is the reference plant community for black loamy sites in the Foothills Fescue grassland.
Soils are medium textured, well drained Orthic Black Chernozems and surface Ah horizons of 10 - 15 cm
in thickness (normally 10 - 15 cm). This community type occurs on very similar soils to FFA5, but is more
common in the southern portion of the subregion, on black soils adjoining the Mixedgrass prairie and areas
of higher summer temperature extremes like the Oldman River valley. With heavy grazing pressure, rough
fescue is replaced by Idaho fescue and numerous forb species. This plant community normally has close
to complete ground cover with little exposed soil. Winter Chinook winds expose this grassland type and
it is commonly used for winter grazing which serves to maintain a high abundance of rough fescue. Forage
production data presented here is from the Waldron Ranch rangeland reference area.
Soil Exposure: 9 % (1-28)Moss/Lichen Cover: 7 % (1 - 35) Total Vegetation: 77% (45 - 96%)
PLANT COMPOSITION CANOPY COVER(%)
MEAN RANGE CONST
SHRUBS
CREEPING JUNIPER
(Juniperus horizontalis) T 0-7 8
FORBS
THREE-FLOWERED AVENS
(Geum triflorum) 2 0-15 39
GRASSES
FOOTHILLS ROUGH FESCUE
(Festuca campestris) 36 13-59 100
IDAHO FESCUE
(Festuca idahoensis) 12 2-35 100
UNDIFFERENTIATED SEDGE
(Carex) 9 0-16 93
NORTHERN WHEAT GRASS
(Agropyron dasystachyum)5 0-14 96
WESTERN PORCUPINE GRASS
(Stipa curtiseta) 6 0-25 75
CALIFORNIA OAT GRASS
(Danthonia californica) 3 0-19 46
PARRY OAT GRASS
(Danthonia parryi) 4 0-16 43
JUNE GRASS
(Koeleria macrantha) 3 0-9 93
RICHARDSTON NEEDLE GRASS
(Stipa richardsonii) 1 0-22 14
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
RANGE SITE
LOAMY 2
SOILS
ORTHIC BLACK (BEAZER, DEL BONITA,
BULLHORN AND STANDOFF)
ELEVATION (M):
M
SOIL DRAINAGE:
WELL DRAINED
SLOPE :
MODERATE, STRONG,
VERY STRONG, GENTLE
ASPECT:
VARIABLE
FORAGE PRODUCTION (LB/AC)
GRASS 1340 (351 - 1909)
FORB 221 (106 - 362)
SHRUB NOT AVAILABLE
LITTER 1126 (721 - 1982)
TOTAL 1561 (713 - 2015)
Ecologically Sustainable Stocking Rate
0.55 Aum/ac
33