DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Xerophyllum tenax | Beargrass 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Beargrass grows from British Columbia east to southwestern Alberta.  It
extends south through the Coast Ranges and the west slope of the Sierra
Nevada to central California.  It also extends south in the Rocky
Mountains into Idaho, Montana, and northwestern Wyoming [51,70].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine


STATES : 
     CA  ID  MT  OR  WA  WY  AB  BC


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     GLAC  GRTE  MORA  OLYM  REDW  YELL


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    4  Sierra Mountains
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K009  Pine - cypress forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest 
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   218  Lodgepole pine
   226  Coastal true fir - hemlock
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   231  Port Orford-cedar
   234  Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Within its range, beargrass is often a dominant on upper slope sites
under subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), mountain hemlock (Tsuga
mertensiana), Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), Shasta red fir (A.
shastensis), grand fir (A. grandis), western white pine (Pinus
monticola), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and lodgepole pine
(Pinus contorta) [10,11,18,22,80].  In southern Oregon it is a useful
indicator of cool summer soil temperatures [65].  In the Cascade
Mountains of Oregon beargrass is an indicator of cold and dry forest
sites [48,49].  The grand fir/beargrass habitat type indicates the
cool-dry limits of the grand fir zone in Idaho [18,79].  Published
classification schemes listing beargrass as an indicator species or a
dominant part of vegetation in habitat types (hts), community types
(cts), or plant associations (pas) are presented below:

Area                    Classification        Authority

WY                      forest hts            Alexander 1986

CA, OR: Siskiyou        forest pas            Atzet and Wheeler 1984
Mountain Province

sw OR: Siskiuou Region  forest pas            Atzet and others 1984

n ID                    forest hts, cts       Cooper and others 1987

e Wa, n ID              forest hts, cts       Daubenmire and Daubenmire 
                                              1968

WA: Cedar River         montane forest cts    Del Moral and Long 1977
Drainage

OR: c Cascades          forest pas, cts       Dyrness and others 1974

Pacific Northwest       general veg. pas      Hall 1984

w OR                    forest pas            Halverson and others 1986

OR: w Cascades          forest hts, cts, pas  Hawk 1979

OR: Willamette NF       general veg. pas      Hemstrom and others 1987

w OR                    forest pas            Hemstrom and others 1982

WA: Mount Rainier NP    forest hts, cts       Moir and others 1976

MT                      forest hts            Pfister and others 1977

e ID, w WY              forest hts            Steele and others 1983

c ID                    forest hts            Steele and others 1981

c OR                    general veg. pas      Volland 1985a

Related categories for Species: Xerophyllum tenax | Beargrass