156 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



area include: Sage grouse, Arkansas 

 kingbird, western lark sparrow. Brewer 

 sparrow. Lazuli bunting, poorwill and 

 rock wren. 



According to Fannin, the western 

 spadefoot toad {Scaphiopus hammondii) 

 is found in southern British Columbia. 

 The northwestern rattlesnake (Crotalus 

 oreganus) also inhabits its sagebrush 

 areas. 



2. Grasslands {A. II. II.) 



The natural grasslands of British 

 Columbia are limited to the Dry Belt 

 areas; where the precipitation is abun- 

 dant, particularly in the coast region, 

 the tree growth is so dense that grasses 

 are eliminated, because of insufficient 

 sunlight. The principal natural grass- 

 lands or grazing areas are: The Fraser 

 valley, and the plateau neighboring 

 thereon from its confluence with the 

 Nicola River northward to its confluence 

 with the Quesnel River, particularly 

 in the regions about the Nicola, Bridge, 

 Thompson, and Chilcotin basins; the 

 Okanagan and Similkameen basins from 

 the United States border northward 

 toward the extremitj^ of Okanagan 

 Lake; the lowlands bordering the south- 

 ern part of the Kettle River. In the 

 valleys of the southern parts of the 

 Arrow and Kootenay Lakes, to a limited 

 extent; and the Columbia basin north- 

 ward to Lake Windermere particularly 

 in the region of the St. Mary's River. 



Natural grasslands occur to a com- 

 paratively limited extent along the 

 southeastern coast of Vancouver Island. 

 In addition, undoubtedly, there are 

 large unexplored areas, particularly in 

 the north; the regions mentioned con- 

 stitute the better known and more 

 generally used grazing lands of the 

 Province. 



Although one kind of grazing area 

 merges into another, several rather 

 distinct t3'pes of grasslands may be 

 distinguished, namely: the open grass- 

 land including those areas where grasses 

 predominate (indicated on fig. 1 by 

 the mark "o"), also those areas where 

 the sagebrush is predominant and the 



wooded grasslands including those areas 

 where western yellow pine (indicated 

 by "X"), jack pine (indicated by 

 "P"), poplars and willows (indicated 

 by "W"); Douglas fir (indicated by 

 "D"); or oaks (indicated by "T"); 

 are the respective dominant tree forms 

 associated with the forage plants of 

 the region. 



Open grasslands may be classified 

 as: first, those where grasses predomi- 

 nate, and second, those where sagebrush 

 is predominant. The two types are not 

 strictly separable by any hard and 

 fast line; ordinarily however the latter 

 occupies the comparatively level low- 

 lands particularly where the yearly 

 precipitation is very low — ordinarily 

 not exceeding 3.5 in., and where the 

 temperature is high — the average sum- 

 mer temperature approximating 70°F. ; 

 in contrast, the open grassland domi- 

 nated by grasses is found on the slopes 

 where there is more available water, 

 due to seepage; where the yearly pre- 

 cipitation may be greater, from 3 to 

 10 in., and where the temperature may 

 be considerably lower. 



The so-called "meadows" may also 

 be included among the open grasslands. 

 They occur in the undrained basins 

 where water stands at least during the 

 earlier part of the growing season. 

 Although included under grasslands, 

 sedges are the dominant forage plant 

 belonging to this plant association. 



Many of the plants found in the sage- 

 brush areas have stout rootstocks in 

 which food is stored during the early 

 growing season in provision for the dry 

 summer months and they obtain suffi- 

 cient water by means of an extensive 

 root system which penetrates the soil 

 to a great depth and not infrequently 

 to the lowest water level. Most con- 

 spicuous among the number are the 

 sagebrush {Artemisia frigida) ; balsam- 

 root or wild sunflower (Balsamorhiza 

 sagittata); and southward from Dog 

 Lake "Greasewood" (Purshia triden- 

 tata). The broad leaves of the balsam- 

 root afford good forage until the latter 

 part of June. These plants are not 



