WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Brachylagus idahoensis | Pygmy Rabbit 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The range of the pygmy rabbit includes most of the Great Basin and some
of the adjacent intermountain areas of the western United States [8].
Pygmy rabbits are found in southwestern Montana from the extreme
southwest corner near the Idaho border north to Dillon and Bannack in
Beaverhead County [4].  Distribution continues east to southern Idaho
and southern Oregon and south to northern Utah, northern Nevada, and
eastern California.  Isolated populations occur in east-central
Washington [2] and Wyoming [21].

The elevational range of pygmy rabbits in Nevada extends from 4,494 to
over 7,004 feet (1,370-2,135 m) and in California from 4,986 to 5,298
feet (1,520-1,615 m) [8].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub


STATES : 


    
CA
    
ID
    
MT
    
NV
    
OR
    
WA
    
WY




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    2  Cascade Mountains
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K040  Saltbush - greasewood
   K055  Sagebrush steppe
   K056  Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe


SAF COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Pygmy rabbits are found primarily in big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata) and rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) dominated communities
[2,7,16,18].  Pygmy rabbits are also found in areas where greasewood
(Sarcobatus spp.) is abundant [7]. Some woody species found on sites
inhabited by pygmy rabbits in southeastern Idaho include big sagebrush,
antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), threetip sagebrush (A.
tripartita), low rabbitbrush (C. viscidiflorus), gray horsebrush
(Tetradymia canescens), and prickly phlox (Leptodactylon pungens).
Grasses and forbs include thick spike wheatgrass (Elymus lanceolatus),
plains reedgrass (Calamagrostis montanensis), sedges (Carex spp.),
prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa
secunda), bluegrass (Poa spp.), needle-and-thread grass (Stipa comata),
western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), rosy pussytoes (Antennaria
microphylla), milkvetch (Astragalus spp.), arrowleaf balsamroot
(Balsamorhiza sagittata), buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), tailcup lupine
(Lupinus caudatus), and phlox (Phlox spp.) [7].  In the Upper Sonoran
Desert pygmy rabbits occur in desert sagebrush associations dominated by
big sagebrush and rabbitbrush with bitterbrush and sulphurflower
(Eriogonum umbellatum var. stellatum) [16].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Brachylagus idahoensis | Pygmy Rabbit