Montane Shrublands

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Montane Shrublands

• By Kelsey Howe

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Abiotic Features

• Elevation-Between 6,500 and 9,500 ft.
  (2,000-2,900 m) which is usually found just above
  the pinion-juniper habitats and just below the
  ponderosa pine forest
• Climate- semi- arid with hot-dry summers and
  mild to cold winters
• Annual Precipitation is 10-27 in (25-70 cm)
• Precipitation comes mostly from winter snows and
  late summer rains
• Mean Temperature -45 degrees
• Covers 5 to 10 percent of Colorado
• Found on level to steep slopes, cliffs,
  escarpments, rim rock slopes, rocky outcrops, and
  scree slopes
• http//www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/communities/serpe
  ntines/communities/images/jpshrubland/images/jeffr
  ey_pine_shrubland_Kaye.jpg

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Biotic Features

• Primary Plants-
• Ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, White fir, Lodgepole
  pine, yarrow, Colorado blue spruce, quaking
  aspen, Rocky Mountain juniper, Wax currant,
  blue-eyed grass, black-eyed susan, Golden banner,
  Mountain muhly
• Primary Animals
• Birds-Virginias Warbler, Blue- Gray Gnatcatcher,
  Green-tailed Towhee
• Mammals-Deer, Elk, Blackbear, Porcupine, Badger,
  Garder snake
• Insects- Colorado Hairstreak, Mountain Pine
  Beetle, Cotton Aphid, Melon Aphid

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Disturbances

• Fires are the main disturbances and play a huge
  role in maintenance
• Shrublands follow a die-back system where the
  burning of old and dead plants clear the way for
  new sprouts
• Fires also create a more nutrient rich soil
• Controls invasion of trees into shrubland systems

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Virginias Warbler(Vermivora virginiae )Order
PasseriformesFamily Parulidae

• Physical Description-
• Length 4.25 inches
• Small, active, insect-eating bird
• Thin, very pointed bill
• White eye ring
• Gray upperparts
• Grayish under parts with yellowish patch on
  breast
• Yellow rump and under tail coverts
• Plain gray wings
• Dark legs
• Females and immatures similar to males but
  somewhat paler and may have some buff on under
  parts

• Habitat- found in the western United states from
  Central and Southern Colorado, Wyoming, and New
  Mexico
• Spends winters in areas of Mexico
• Resides in mostly wooded areas and scrubby
  hillsides
• Behaviors- shy, retiring, and hard to observe
• Diet- consists mostly of insects
• forages on the ground, in foliage, or catches
  insects in mid-air

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Porcupine(Erethizon dorsatum)Order
RodentiaFamily Erethizontidae

• Physical Description-
• Third largest rodents
• about 2536 in (6391 cm) long, with an 810 in
  (2025 cm) long tail
• Weighing between 1235 lb (5.416 kg)
• Round, large and slow
• come in various shades of brown, grey, and the
  unusual white
• covered in a coat of sharp spines, or quills,
  that defend them from predators
• Habitats-
• can be found on rocky areas up to 3,700 m
  (12,000 ft) high
• Nocturnal
• live in forests, deserts, rocky outcrops,
  hillsides and grasslands
• Some porcupines live in trees

• Behaviors-
• solitary animal, although it may den with other
  porcupines in the winter
• spends much of its time in trees
• Diet
• is an herbivore
• eats leaves, twigs and green plants like skunk
  cabbage and clover
• climbs trees to find food

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Mountain Muhly(Muhlenbergia montana)Order
CyperalesFamily Poaceae

• Physical Description-
• Green foliage and yellow flowers, with brown
  fruits or seeds
• At maturity, the typical Mountain Muhly will
  reach up to 1.5 feet high, with a maximum height
  at 20 years of 1.5 feet
• has High tolerance to drought and restricted
  water conditions
• Habitats-
• Native to the United States
• Wyoming, Utah, California, Arizona, New Mexico,
  Texas and Mexico
• Special Adaptions-
• plant cannot survive exposure to temperatures
  below -38F
• has High tolerance to drought and restricted
  water conditions
• Is a perennial
• Grows in course and medium textured soils

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Works Cited
"Birding Basics." Colorado Birding Trail. 2009.
The Colorado Birding Trail, Web. 24 Sep 2009.
lthttp//www.coloradobirdingtrail.com/basics/monta
ne_shrubland.php gt. "Ecoregions Montane
Grasslands and Shrublands." Nation Master.com.
2005. Wikipedia encyclopedia, Web. 24 Sep 2009.
lthttp//www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Montane-
grasslands-and- shrublandsgt.
"Mountain Scrub." Tarleton Education. Tarleton,
Web. 24 Sep 2009. lthttp//www.tarleton.edu/range
/Shrublands/Mountain20Scrub/m ountainshrub.htmlgt.

"Rocky Mountain Gamble Oak-Mixed Montane
Shrubland." Colorado State. September 2009. Web.
24 Sep 2009. lthttp//www.cnhp.colostate.edu/downl
oad/projects/eco_systems/pdf/R M_Gambel_Oak-Mixed_
Montane_Shrubland.pdfgt.