|
|
|
||
|
JFSP Demonstration Area Location |
|||
|
GBEM-Team Leader
EPR-Project Leader
|
The demonstration area is located in the Shoshone Mountain Range on the
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (Austin Ranger District) and the Battle
Mountain District of the BLM in central Nevada. The focus is on Underdown
Canyon which will receive prescribed burns in 2001. Three additional
drainages, Barrett, Becker, and Riley are serving as controls. This area
is typical of much of the central Great Basin.
|
||
    |
|||
The geology of the drainages is dominated by volcanic rock.
Infrequent springs occur in the drainages and, in most years, the streams
are intermittent except during runoff in June and July. Average yearly
precipitation ranges from about 23 cm at lower elevations to 50 cm at
higher elevations, and most precipitation arrives in the winter and spring
months. The woodlands are characterized by single-leaf pinyon (Pinus
monophylla) intermixed with lower densities of Utah juniper (Juniperus
osteosperma) and some Utah juniper-western juniper (Juniperus
scopulorum) hybrids. At the lowest elevations, the associated
communities are dominated by Wyoming sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata
wyomingenis) with Sandberg’s bluegrass (Poa secunda),
bottle-brush squirrel tail (Elymus elymoides), and
needle-and-thread grass (Stipa comata). At higher elevation
mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata vaseyana) dominates with Idaho fescue (Festuca
idahoensis) and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata)
on north-facing slopes and Sandberg’s bluegrass and bottle-brush squirrel
tail on south-facing slopes. The riparian corridor is characterized by
intermittent dry meadow communities, and warm willow (Salix exigua
and S. lutea) and wet meadow communities are associated with
springs. Cheatgrass is only a minor component of most of the communities,
and its abundance decreases with increasing elevation.
