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Preliminary classification of native wheat grass (Agropyron spp.) community types in Alberta

Description

Agropyron SPP, a perennial commonly known as wheat grass, occurs extensively across North American, ranging from Alaska, Yukon, Ellesmere Island and Greenland in the north to Newfoundland in the... More ≫

Description

Agropyron SPP, a perennial commonly known as wheat grass, occurs extensively across North American, ranging from Alaska, Yukon, Ellesmere Island and Greenland in the north to Newfoundland in the east and Texas, California and Arizona in the south. The overall goal of this project was to produce a synopsis of historical data on selected native Agropyron plant community types and to create a preliminary provincial classification of these community types. This information will be used to provide a better understanding of the plant community aspects of Alberta's biodiversity.

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Preliminary classification of silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana) community types

Description

The Nature Conservancy has developed a standardised hierarchical system to facilitate the identification and classification of vegetated terrestrial communities (Schneider et al. 1997; NatureServe... More ≫

Description

The Nature Conservancy has developed a standardised hierarchical system to facilitate the identification and classification of vegetated terrestrial communities (Schneider et al. 1997; NatureServe 2000). The upper hierarchical levels (class and subclass) are based on vegetation structure, height and leaf form; the middle levels (group and formation) are based on climate, hydrology and leaf form; the lowest levels (alliance and association) are based on floristic composition of the uppermost strata (alliance) and total floristic composition (association). An important aspect to the classification is that the community elements are related to a set of environmental factors rather than to a particular site, allowing the classification to have ecological meaning over a broad geographical range. The lowest level of the hierarchy (the plant association) has a definite floristic composition and uniform physiography, and represents uniform habitat conditions. Habitat refers to the...

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The rough fescue dominated community types in the foothills of north-central Alberta

Description

The fescue grasslands of Alberta are an important grazing resource for both wildlife and domestic livestock. These grasslands are also found in some of the most ecological diverse areas of the... More ≫

Description

The fescue grasslands of Alberta are an important grazing resource for both wildlife and domestic livestock. These grasslands are also found in some of the most ecological diverse areas of the province. Looman (1982) described three zones of rough fescue in Alberta, characterized by a different species. In the Northern rough fescue zone, north of 51 N latitude in the foothills of North-central Alberta three undisturbed rough fescue dominated types have been described. These include the Rough fescue-Hairy wildrye dominated community which is found on dry, well-drained sites. On moister sites with deep snow accumulation bog birch will invade to form the Bog birch/Rough fescue/Bearberry dominated community type. In contrast, on moist, rich sites tufted hairgrass co-dominates with rough fescue to form the Rough fescue-Tufted hairgrass dominated community type. This paper will describe and examine the successional relationships of these community types in the presence and absence of...

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A preliminary classification of the Rocky Mountain shrubland communities of Alberta

Description

The Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre (ANHIC) collects, analyses and disseminates information on the natural biodiversity of Alberta. One of the elements of diversity which ANHIC... More ≫

Description

The Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre (ANHIC) collects, analyses and disseminates information on the natural biodiversity of Alberta. One of the elements of diversity which ANHIC monitors are plant community types. Plant communities of special conservation concern are placed on tracking and watch lists which are being developed for the province (Allen 2000). Much of the vegetation of Alberta is still poorly understood, and ANHIC has identified several high priority vegetation groups that require further study and classification. One such high priority group is the shrubland communities of the Rocky Mountain Natural Region. The objective of this report was to develop a better understanding of the shrubland community types of the Rocky Mountain Natural Region through the numerical classification of existing plot data.

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Guide to range plant community types and carrying capacity for the dry and central mixedwood subregions of Alberta. Third approximation

Description

The Dry and Central Mixedwood subregions cover nearly 40 per cent of the province. The vegetative communities in these subregions are important because they provide summer range for livestock,... More ≫

Description

The Dry and Central Mixedwood subregions cover nearly 40 per cent of the province. The vegetative communities in these subregions are important because they provide summer range for livestock, prime habitat for many species of wildlife, productive watersheds, recreational areas and timber production. However, there is limited information on their ecology and succession under the influence of livestock grazing. This guide provides a framework that can be used to easily group the vegetative community types. It is hoped the classification systems presented can be used to assess the ecology of the sites and develop integrated management plans within each region. This edition is a revision of the 2nd approximation of the Range Plant Community Types and Carrying Capacity for the Dry and Central Mixedwood.

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Rangeland reference areas : species composition changes in the presence and absence of grazing and fire on the rough fescue-hairy wildrye dominated community types of the Upper Foothills subregion

Description

This report evaluates and discusses the range condition and trend of the McCue Creek, Yara Creek and Upper James River Rangeland reference areas. These reference areas were established in 1963 on... More ≫

Description

This report evaluates and discusses the range condition and trend of the McCue Creek, Yara Creek and Upper James River Rangeland reference areas. These reference areas were established in 1963 on glacialfluvial terraces and a colluvial slope adjacent to the Red Deer and Upper James River. These reference areas were classified as belonging to the Rough fescue-Hairy wildrye community type and placed in the grassland/shrubland ecosite of the Upper Foothills subregion.

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Limber pine, whitebark pine, alpine heath, and terricolous alpine lichen vegetation alliances in Alberta

Description

This study provides a provincial-level classification of plant associations within the Alberta limber pine, whitebark pine, and alpine heath vegetation alliances, and further characterizes other... More ≫

Description

This study provides a provincial-level classification of plant associations within the Alberta limber pine, whitebark pine, and alpine heath vegetation alliances, and further characterizes other high elevation treeless vegetation types. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to identify vegetation associations. Qualitative information was used from published and unpublished reports. The quantitative approach used Alberta Ecological Site Information System (ESIS) data (14 limber pine plots, 66 whitebark pine plots, and 447 treeless plots with elevation >/=2000 m) which were analyzed by via classification, ordination, and statistics. Qualitative and quantitative types were merged where they overlapped.

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Preliminary classification of plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii) community types within the central parkland subregion of Alberta

Description

This preliminary classification will focus on native grassland community types containing plains rough fescue and less than 25% shrub cover. Disturbances such as over-grazing, mowing, breaking of... More ≫

Description

This preliminary classification will focus on native grassland community types containing plains rough fescue and less than 25% shrub cover. Disturbances such as over-grazing, mowing, breaking of the soil, etc. can alter the species composition of grasslands, introducing a variety of non-native grasses and forbs and shifting the dominance of native species. Due to the wide array of community types that could result, such disturbed (modified) grasslands have not been included in this classification. Following phase III, which includes the field verification of remnant plains rough fescue grasslands, such modified fescue associations may be described.

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Potentially trackable plant communities : foothills and Rocky Mountain natural regions

Description

Timberline Forestry Inventory Consultants Ltd was asked to prepare a list of potentially trackable communities from the Ellis report, and to add communities that had been described subsequent to... More ≫

Description

Timberline Forestry Inventory Consultants Ltd was asked to prepare a list of potentially trackable communities from the Ellis report, and to add communities that had been described subsequent to its preparation. The process of identifying “trackable” communities has been conducted previously through a team approach in the Western U.S., where several people jointly evaluated all communities and reached consensus on “trackable” elements. For the Alberta pilot, an explicit data-based means of identifying potentially trackable communities was undertaken in order to streamline the process of reviewing textual descriptions.

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Range plant community types and carrying capacity for the dry and central mixedwood subregions of Alberta. Second approximation

Description

The Dry and Central Mixedwood subregions cover nearly 40 per cent of the province. The vegetative communities in these subregions are important because they provide summer range for livestock,... More ≫

Description

The Dry and Central Mixedwood subregions cover nearly 40 per cent of the province. The vegetative communities in these subregions are important because they provide summer range for livestock, prime habitat for many species of wildlife, productive watersheds, recreational areas and timber production. However, there is limited information on their ecology and succession under the influence of livestock grazing. This guide provides a framework that can be used to easily group the vegetative community types. It is hoped the classification systems presented can be used to assess the ecology of the sites and develop integrated management plans within each region.

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