SILVER BUFFALOBERRY--RED_qS^IER DOG'VOOD COULEE . --Locat ion : Montana; 

 McCone County; overlaps boundary of Sections ?> and 10, T20N, 

 R-15E; 4T°31' N, 105^58' W; AMS , Glendive (XL 13-2). Continuity: 

 New. Size: 25 ha = 61.8 acres (square, paced). Description of 

 Plot: Drainage head in rolling grassland, E aspect, dissected 

 by dendritic coulee (see Figure 2). Grassland covers about 60"o 

 of plot and is dominated by low mats of Blue Grama, Needle-and- 

 thread, and Thread-leaved Sedge of relatively short stature 

 (2-15 cm) with scattered island-like clumps of Little Bluestem 

 and Bluebunch V/heatgrass ( Agropyron spicatum ) up to 30 cm in 

 height. Canopy coverage estimates for a quadrat located in typical 

 grassland within the plot are: Blue Grama, 3; Needle-and-thread, 3; 

 Litter, 2; Thread-leaved Sedge, 2; Bare Soil, 1; Saltsage ( Atriplex 

 nuttallii ) , 1; Winterfat ( Eurotia lanata ) , 1; Bare Rock, T; Broom 

 Snakeweed ( Gut ierrezia sarothrae ) , T; Fringed Sagewort ( Artemisia 

 f rigida ) , T; Indian-wheat ( Plantago potagonica ) , T; Lichens, T; 

 Mosses, T; Scarlet Globemallow ( Sphaeralcea coccinea ) , T; Silver 

 Sagebrush, T. Coulee has 5 major arms within plot. Local relief 

 is great; main trunk cuts as deeply as 6 m below plane of grassland. 

 Coulee walls are very steep, some nearly vertical. Long, narrow 

 peninsulas of grassland extend between coulee arms. North-facing 

 coulee walls and coulee heads support dense shrubbery up to 3 m 

 in height, dominated by Silver Buf f aloberry , Chokecherry, Serviceberry 

 ( Amelanchier alnifolia ) , and Red-osier Dogwood ( Cornus stolonifera ) . 

 Canopy coverage estimates for a quadrat located in one of the 

 coulee heads are: Litter, 5; Silver Sagebrush, 5; Red-osier 

 Dogwood, 3; Serviceberry, 2; Western Snowberry, 2; Common Chokecherry, 

 1; Green Needlegrass, 1; Mosses, 1; Poison Ivy ( Rhus radicans ) , _ 

 1; Rose (Rosa sp . ) , 1; Silver Bu f f aloberry , 1; Skunkhush Sumac 



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