Juniperus osteosperma / Aqropyron spicatum (G3/S3) 

 Juniperus osteosperraa / Cercocarpus ledif olius (G3/S3) 

 Juniperus scopulorun / Artenisia nova (G2/S2) 

 Pinus flexil is - Juniperus osteosperma (G3/S3) 

 Artemisia pedatif ida / Aqropyron spicatum (G3/S3) 

 Artemisia pedatif ida - Atriplex nuttallii (G2/S2) 

 Atriplex nuttallii - Artemisia spinescens (Gl/Sl) 

 Artemisia trident at a / Atriplex nuttallii (G2/S2) 

 Atriplex nuttallii / Monolepis nuttalliana (G27/S2?) 

 Aqropyron spicatum / cushion plant (G3/S3) 

 Chrysothamnus nauseosus / Erioqonum brevicaule (G2/S2) 

 Carex rupestr is / Potent ilia ovina (G3/S3) 



Among the above types, those that appear to be possibly 

 endemic to the Pryor Mountain and northern Bighorn River Basin 

 area are: 



Juniperus osteosperma / Cer coca rpus ledif olius (G3/S3) 

 Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia nova (G2/S2) 

 Pinus flexil is - Juniperus osteosperma (G3/S3) 

 Artemisia pedatif ida - Atriplex nuttallii (G2/S2) 

 Atriplex nuttallii - Artemisia spinescens (Gl/Sl) 

 Artemisia trident at a / Atriplex nuttallii (G2/S2) 

 Atriplex nuttallii / Monolepis nuttalliana (G27/S2?) 

 Aqropyron spicatum / cushion plant (G3/S3) 

 Chrysothamnus nauseosus / Erioqonum brevicaule (G2/S2) 



Management Considerations 



Plant community diversity should be conserved on the 

 ecosystem and landscape levels. Maximizing diversity of one 

 group of species, such as birds or plants, may not optimize 

 overall biological diversity. On the other hand, plant 

 communities are one of the most efficient surrogates for overall 

 species diversity because vegetation consists of the principle 

 autotrophs upon which most other organisms depend, and it 

 integrates many important environmental gradients (Whittaker 

 1975) . Maintaining community diversity is the best insurance 

 that small, dif f icult-to-inventory organisms that contribute the 

 most to ecosystem function and biological diversity are not lost, 

 For these reasons it is important to protect rare and threatened 

 vegetation types in any ecosystem- or landscape-level management 

 plan. 



We identified six community types in the Pryor Mountain 

 study area that are considered globally rare: Artemisia 

 pedatif ida - Atriplex nuttallii (G2/S2) , Atriplex nuttallii - 

 Artemisia spinescens (Gl/Sl), Artemisia tridentata / Atriplex 

 nuttallii (G2/S2) , Atriplex nuttallii / Monolepis nuttalliana 

 (G27/S2?) , Chrysothamnus nauseosus / Erioqonum brevicaule (G2/S2) , 

 and Juniperus scopulorum / Artemisia nova (G2/S2) . All of these 

 community types are thought to be endemic to the Pryor Mountain 

 Desert region at the north end of the Bighorn Basin. 



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