DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Achnatherum speciosum | Desert Needlegrass 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The range of desert needlegrass extends from Colorado west to Nevada and
south into Arizona, southern California, and northern Mexico
[13,17,30,37,39].  Populations are also found in southern South America
[3,13].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES40  Desert grasslands


STATES : 
     AZ  CA  CO  NV  UT  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ARCH  CANY  CARE  CHCU  COLM  DEVA
     GLCA  GRCA  JOTR  LAME  MEVE  NABR
     ORPI  PEFO  WUPA


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K039  Blackbrush
   K040  Saltbush - greasewood
   K041  Creosotebush
   K042  Creosotebush - bursage
   K053  Grama - galleta steppe
   K057  Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   238  Western juniper
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   240  Arizona cypress
   241  Western live oak
   242  Mesquite


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Desert needlegrass is an important grass species in the understory of
pinyon-juniper woodlands of northern Arizona and New Mexico [21].  In
sagebrush steppe, desert needlegrass importance increases in arid areas
[38,43].  Desert needlegrass is a component in the shadscale (Atriplex
confertifolia) series of the Great Basin desertscrub and in the
creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) communities of the Mohave Desert,
California [1,28,32].

Desert needlegrass is an indicator for habitat types in the following
publications:

(1) Survey of endangered plants, Joshua Tree National Monument [17]
(2) Transmontane coniferous vegetation [34]

Related categories for Species: Achnatherum speciosum | Desert Needlegrass