of the shrubs Artemisia tridentata ssp. vasyana, Chysothamnus viscidiflorus, and Ribes setosum. 

 Grasses have higher cover and are more diverse than in adjacent unburned areas. The dominant 

 grasses are Festuca idahoensis (ca. 50% cover) and Agropyron spicatum (ca. 10% cover); Stipa 

 nelsonii and Bromus piwipellianus are also well represented. There is much less cover but a fairly 

 high diversity of forbs, Achillea millefolium, Collinsia parviflorum, Geranium viscosissimum, 

 and Phacelia hastata being the most common species. 



Comments: Control of wildfires and a long history of cattle grazing in the Ruby Range have 

 probably reduced aerial and temporal coverage by FESIDA/AGRSPI with a corresponding 

 increase in ARTTSV/FESIDA. This has probably resulted in a decrease in productivity of forage 

 for big game and cattle. 



Carex simidata plant association 



(CARSIM; short-beaked sedge; MTNHP rank G3/S3; 1 plot) 



Environment: CARSIM is a minor wetland plant association, probably confined in the study 

 area to Mud Spring near the base of the southeastern foothills of the Ruby Range. The mud of 

 "Mud Lake" is actually marl, a calcareous clay deposit or intimate mixture of clay and particles of 

 calcite and dolomite wherein the percentage of calcium carbonate may range from 90 to 

 somewhat less than 30 percent. The site is on private land at the lower end of the Garden Creek 

 grazing allotment. Additional examples of CARSIM may be found on other nearby private lands 

 in the Ruby Valley. Mud Spring is a subirrigated calcareous wetland in a large swale of an 

 alluvial bench at about 5,800 feet elevation. CARSIM is a minor wetland community type, 

 probably confined in the study area to Mud Spring near the base of the southeastern foothills of 

 the Ruby Range. This site extends the known lower elevation limits, which are otherwise at 

 middle to high elevations (6,000-7,000 feet) in the mountains (Hansen et al. 1995), by some 200 

 feet. Surrounding upland habitats are Artemisia tridentata ssp. vasyana/Agropyron spicatum 

 steppe and Sarcobatus vermiculatus/Agropyron smithii salt flats. 



Soils: The community is within the Neen silty clay loam soil mapping unit (USDA Soil 

 Conservation Sei-vice 1989). The unit has deep, poorly drained, salt affected soils formed in 

 alluvium of stream terraces and upland swales. The Neen series are classified as Aquic 

 Calciorthids. The CARSIM community type grows in saturated soils with organic accumulations, 

 making them histosols. All of this wetland was saturated to the surface and exliibited mottling 

 and gleying extending to within a few centimeters of the surface; the centermost three fourths had 

 standing water covering at least 20 percent of the ground surface. Small parts of the wetland have 

 a floating organic mat which has the best developement of the CARSIM community type. 



Vegetation: The CARSIM p. a. occupies the continually saturated center at the head of the 

 spring-fed wetland and is surrounded by a narrow zone of dryer hummocky topography typically 

 occupied by the Juncus balticus and Deschampsia cespitosa plant associations. In the sampled 

 plot there is full cover by graminoids, of these the sedge Carex simulata is dominant (ca. 70% 

 cover), and Carex nebrascensis and the spike rush Eleocharis pauciflora are abundant. The sedge 

 Carex microptera is well represented and the grasses Deschampsia caespitosa and Muhlenbergia 

 richardsonis are common. The arrow grass, Triglochim maritimum, is also common. Total forb 

 cover is around 10%; the most common species ?aQ Aster brachyactis, Crepis runcinatus, 

 Dodecatheon pulchella and Ranunculus uncinatus. 



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