• GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
• ECOSYSTEMS
• STATES
• BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
• KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS
• SAF COVER TYPES
• SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES
• HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:

Black grama is widely distributed throughout southwestern desert grasslands. Its distribution stretches from Texas to southern California and from Mexico northward to Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah [46,49,60,108].

ECOSYSTEMS [41]:

FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES40 Desert grasslands

STATES:

AZ	CA	CO	KS	NM
NV	OK	TX	UT	WY

MEXICO

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [7]:

7 Lower Basin and Range
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

KUCHLER [79] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
K031 Oak-juniper woodland
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush-bursage
K044 Creosotebush-tarbush
K054 Grama-tobosa prairie
K058 Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe
K065 Grama-buffalo grass
K085 Mesquite-buffalo grass
K086 Juniper-oak savanna

SAF COVER TYPES [36]:

68 Mesquite
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon-juniper
242 Mesquite

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [103]:

211 Creosotebush scrub
503 Arizona chaparral
504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
505 Grama-tobosa shrub
506 Creosotebush-bursage
508 Creosotebush-tarbush
702 Black grama-alkali sacaton
703 Black grama-sideoats grama
705 Blue grama-galleta
706 Blue grama-sideoats grama
707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
708 Bluestem-dropseed
709 Bluestem-grama
713 Grama-muhly-threeawn
714 Grama-bluestem
716 Grama-feathergrass
727 Mesquite-buffalo grass
729 Mesquite
735 Sideoats grama-sumac-juniper

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:

In desert grasslands and rangelands of the Southwest, black grama is the principal native dominant on upland sandy loam soils [114]. It is the dominant grass within Chihuahuan Desert ranges [104]. Historically black grama occurred in almost pure stands over extensive areas of southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas, and into northern Mexico. Pure stands are less extensive today [91]. Within New Mexico semidesert grassland, black grama forms its own vegetation type [125]. It co-dominates in blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis)-black grama and desert scrub types [15,29,121]. Publications describing plant communities dominated by black grama are:

Vegetative succession in the Prosopis sand dunes of southern New Mexico [25]
New Mexico vegetation: past, present, and future [34]
Preliminary habitat types of a semiarid grassland [38]
Vegetation and community types of the Chihuahuan Desert [54]
A series vegetation classification for Region 3 [87]
The natural vegetation of Arizona [92]
Plant communities of Texas (Series level) [109]

Campbell and Bomberger [26] provide a detailed summary of a general black grama association. Under favorable rainfall and conservative grazing, 60 to 70% plant density is filled by black grama. Approximately 15% is filled by sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus), mesa dropseed (Sporobolus flexuosus), Wooton threeawn (Aristida pansa), and red threeawn (Aristida purpurea).

Black grama is the dominant grass of upland areas of the Rio Grande Valley desert plain. Within the Rio Grande Valley a strong association (p = 0.05) was seen with creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) and bush muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri). Associations at the p = 0.01 level of significance were seen with Fendler threeawn (A. fendleriana), galleta (Pleuraphis jamesii), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), and fluffgrass (Erioneuron pulchellum) [39].

Black grama is considered the climax type of some southwestern rangelands. Perennial grasses associates in black grama grasslands include red and Wooton threeawn, and sand and mesa dropseed. Important forbs include spectacle pod (Dithyrea wislizeni), woolly paperflower (Psilostrophe tagetina), bladderpod (Lesquerella spp.), globemallow (Sphaeralcea spp.), croton (Croton spp.), and several annuals. This black grama type achieves the best structure on older, stable loamy sand. Dropseeds and threeawns are more abundant when surface soils are sandier and less compact [96].

Along with tobosagrass (Pleuraphis mutica), black grama is the most common grass within semidesert shrub grasslands. Black grama is a dominant member within grama-galleta (Bouteloua-Hilaria spp.)-creosotebush southwestern shrubsteppe [56]. Common associates in Arizona include threeawns. In New Mexico mesa dropseed, threeawns, and fluffgrass are usually present. In Texas blue grama, sideoats grama, Warnock's grama, and vine mesquite (Panicum obtusum) are commonly associated, along with dropseeds and Wooton threeawn [123].

Black grama is a principal grass of Arizona chaparral [64]. Within Arizona chaparral, black grama inhabits those areas where chaparral borders on semidesert grassland. Common associates include hairy grama (Bouteloua hirsuta), sideoats grama (B. curtipendula), and threeawns [23].

Related categories for SPECIES: Bouteloua eriopoda | Black Grama