Foothills Fescue Range Plant Community Guide - Sustainable ...

Northern Wheat Grass - Western Porcupine Grass - Junegrass FFA14
(Agropyron dasystachyum - Stipa curtiseta - Koeleria macrantha) Herbaceous
n=5 This is a late to mid-seral plant community associated with shallow to gravel and dry loamy range
sites on the eastern fringes of the Foothills Fescue grassland near the boundary with the Mixedgrass prairie.
This plant community is associated with shallow to gravel soils adjacent to Willow Creek and the Oldman
River. Rough fescue may be present but is not dominant given the increased aridity of the site and the
transition to Dark Brown Chernozemic soils. A number of Mixedgrass prairie species are prominent in
the stand like needle-and-thread grass. The plant community is very similar to the Northern Wheatgrass -
Idaho Fescue type found on the eastern slopes of the Milk River Ridge, which is a transitional community
between the Foothills Fescue and Dry Mixedgrass natural subregions.
Soil Exposure: 5 % (1-11) Moss/Lichen Cover: 9% (0-30) Total Vegetation: 86% (80-95)
PLANT COMPOSITION CANOPY COVER(%)
MEAN RANGE CONST
SHRUBS
BUCKBRUSH
(Symphoricarpos
occidentalis) 2 0-5 40
PRAIRIE ROSE
(Rosa arkansana) 1 0-4 40
FORBS
PASTURE SAGEWORT
(Artemisia frigida) 4 0-10 80
GOLDEN BEAN
(Thermopsis rhombifolia) 2 0-8 40
GRASSES
NORTHERN WHEAT GRASS
(Agropyron dasystachyum)19 10-33 100
WESTERN PORCUPINE GRASS
(Stipa curtiseta) 13 0-24 80
JUNE GRASS
(Koeleria macrantha) 7 1-18 100
IDAHO FESCUE
(Festuca idahoensis) 6 0-24 80
KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS
(Poa pratensis) 5 0-9 60
UNDIFFERENTIATED SEDGE
(Carex) 5 0-12 80
FOOTHILLS ROUGH FESCUE
(Festuca campestis) 5 0-14 40
NEEDLE-AND-THREAD
(Stipa comata) 4 0-13 60
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
RANGE SITE:
LOAMY 3
SHALLOW TO GRAVEL
SOILS:
ORTHIC REGOSOL
ORTHIC DARK BROWN CHERNOZEM
ORTHIC BLACK CHERNOZEM
ELEVATION:
SOIL DRAINAGE:
WELL DRAINED
RAPIDLY DRAINED
SLOPE :
GENTLE
MODERATE
ASPECT:
VARIABLE
FORAGE PRODUCTION (LB/AC)
GRASS NOT AVAILABLE
FORB NOT AVAILABLE
SHRUB NOT AVAILABLE
LITTER NOT AVAILABLE
TOTAL NOT AVAILABLE
Ecologically Sustainable Stocking Rate
0.35 AUM/ac
41