Pinus ponderosa / Schizachyrium scoparium Community Type 



(syn. Pinus ponderosa / Andropogon scoparius) 



PINPON / SCHSCO; ponderosa pine / little bluestem 



MTNHP rank G2/S2 



Environment: One plot of PINPON/SCHSCO was sampled on rolling sandstone-capped tablelands 

 in the Ekalaka Hills. Very small stands of this type were noted elsewhere on warm slopes with 

 mostly sandstone-derived, coarse textured substrates with considerable gravel content; often these 

 sites were judged to be highly erosive. 



Vegetation: The tree component consists of scattered (ca. 3% canopy cover) young trees about 20 ft. 

 tall. The distinct herbaceous layer is dominated by the bunch-forming, warm season grass, 

 Schizachyrium scoparium (syn. Andropogon scoparius) with about 20% cover. Other common 

 native graminoids in the plot are the sedge Carex inops (syn. C heliophila, C. pensylvanica) and the 

 grass Pascopyrum smithii (syn. Agropyron smithii, Elymus smithii), both rhizomatous native species. 

 The rhizomatous, introduced bluegrass, Poapratensis has app. 10% cover. The sedge Carex filifolia, 

 which is associated with Carter County little bluestem grassland communities (SCHSCO/CARFIL), 

 was absent in this plot. Forbs are relatively abundant, but most are increasers common in adjacent 

 rangelands; Artemisia ludoviciana and Helianthus rigidus are the most abundant. A trace of Yucca 

 glauca was the only shrub. 



Our plot on BLM land is on the edge of stands of Pinus ponderosa/Carex inops (syn. C. heliophila) 

 on the Custer National Forest which were sampled by Hansen and Hoffman (1988). Another forest 

 type on the tablelands, in stands untouched by past fires, is Pinus ponderosa/Juniperus communis, 

 also sampled by Hansen and Hoffman (1988). Unforested areas of the top are grazed grasslands 

 (STICOM/CARFIL). Similar stands of PINPON/SCHSCO were observed on BLM land in the 

 vicinity of Pine Hill east of Mill Iron. This community type was also noted to occur throughout the 

 Custer National Forest Long Pines (Dusek 1 980) where site characteristics were not easily 

 distinguishable from those of Pinus ponderosa/Pseudoroegneria spicata stands. 



Soils: Soils are loamy and well drained. 



Comments: We maintain that this community type, provisionally identified as a rare plant 

 community in the northern Great Plains (Faber-Langendoen et all 997), warrants ftirther review as to 

 its rarity as well as its successional status. It is fairly well documented from the Black Hills in 

 Wyoming (Jones 1992) and South Dakota (Thilenius 1972), and in the Little Missouri, Powder, and 

 Tongue River drainages in southeastern Montana (Pfister et al. 1977). It may have a broad 

 distribution extending south to New Mexico and east to Nebraska (Faber-Langendoen et al.l997). 



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