Columbia needlegrass grows throughout most of the West. It occurs from the Yukon and British Columbia east to western South Dakota, south to western Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and west to northern and eastern California, with the central Rocky Mountains as its center of distribution [10,21,53]. Dore's needlegrass (Achnatherum nelsonii ssp. dorei) does not occur in Nevada or Utah, and does occur in Texas [54]. Achnatherum nelsonii ssp. nelsonii is not found in Texas.
Columbia needlegrass is an indicator of climax in several sagebrush and
pinyon-juniper habitat types. Publications listing Columbia needlegrass as an indicator or dominant species in habitat types are listed below:
Sagebrush-steppe habitat types in northern Colorado: a first
approximation [15]
A habitat type classfication of the pinyon-juniper woodlands of the
Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico [26]
Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of northern New Mexico
and northern Arizona [28]
Plant associations (habitat types) of the forests and woodlands of Arizona and
New Mexico [49]
Shrub-steppe habitat types of Middle Park, Colorado [50]
Columbia needlegrass commonly grows in association with lanceleaf rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus ssp. lanceolatus), spreading big rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus linifolius), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and bluegrasses (Poa spp.) [53,55]. In north-central Colorado, Columbia needlegrass occurs as an understory dominant with Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) [15,50], and is also commonly associated with mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp.vaseyana) and Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) [50]. In the woodlands of New Mexico, Columbia needlegrass is a dominant understory plant occurring with Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) [26,28,49].
In Wood Buffalo National Park, northern Alberta, Columbia needlegrass is considered a key species in the identification of dry grassland remnants in the Aspen parklands and boreal landscapes [43]. Here it is associated with rose (Rosa spp.), snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus), prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), Richardson needlegrass (Achnatherum richardsonii), and Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) [42]. Columbia needlegrass is also listed among the dominant species that are representative of "pristine vegetation" on a subalpine site in the Wasatch Plateau in Utah [13].
Related categories for
SPECIES: Achnatherum nelsonii
| Columbia Needlegrass
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Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
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