Foothills Fescue Range Plant Community Guide - Sustainable ...

Kentucky Bluegrass - Timothy FFB1
(Poa pratensis - Phleum pratense) Herbaceous
n=38 This community is a modified plant community found on loamy range sites in both the Foothills
Fescue and Foothills Parkland Natural Subregions. This plant community is the product of long-term heavy
grazing, where rough fescue, Parry oatgrass and native wheatgrasses have been gradually replaced by
Kentucky bluegrass and Timothy to a lesser extent. In general, the extent of site’s suitable for invasive
grasses will be more limiting in the Foothills Fescue grassland compared to foothills parkland, a subregion
more favorable to woody plant species due to a lower precipitation to evaporation ratio, and therefore, this
community type will be most common on valley bottom and lower slope positions. With proper stocking
levels and appropriate rotational grazing practices, the plant community can be quite productive but many
values normally associated the native rough fescue communities are diminished including drought
resistance and suitability for winter grazing. Based on existing information, there appears to be limited
potential for recovery from this community type to one dominated by native graminoids. The Ecologically
Sustainable Stocking Rate is set to allow the range health of the plant community to improve. Stocking at
.5 to .65 AUM/ac will maintain the existing plant community.
Soil Exposure: 1 % (0-12) Moss/Lichen Cover: 0 % (0-5) Total Vegetation: 97 % (88-98)
PLANT COMPOSITION CANOPY COVER(%)
MEAN RANGE CONST
SHRUBS
BUCKBRUSH
(Symphoricarpos
occidentalis) 4 0-15 68
FORBS
CANADA THISTLE
(Cirsium arvense) 2 0-12 55
COMMON DANDELION
(Taraxacum officinale) 1 0-10 66
COMMOM YARROW
(Achillea millefolium) 1 0-6 82
GRASSES
KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS
(Poa pratensis) 49 27-76 100
TIMOTHY
(Phleum pratense) 9 0-34 87
FOOTHILLS ROUGH FESCUE
(Festuca campestris) 3 0-15 58
NORTHERN WHEAT GRASS
(Agropyron dasystachyum)2 0-11 45
NORTHERN AWNLESS BROME
(Bromus inermis spp.) 2 0-33 53
PARRY OAT GRASS
(Danthonia parryi) 2 0-9 63
AWNED WHEAT GRASS
(Agropyron subsecundum) 2 0-7 84
SEDGE
(Carex spp.) 2 0-12 66
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
RANGE SITE:
LOAMY 1
SOILS:
ORTHIC BLACK CHERNOZEM
(BEAZER, STANDOFF)
ELEVATION (M):
SOIL DRAINAGE:
MODERATELY WELL DRAINED
WELL DRAINED
SLOPE :
VERY GENTLE
MODERATE
GENTLE
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
0.40 AUM/ac
53