DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Poa pratensis | Kentucky Bluegrass 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Kentucky bluegrass is widely distributed across North America growing in
every state and Canadian province.  It is adapted for growth in cool,
humid climates, and is most prevalent in the northern half of the United
States and the southern half of Canada.  It is not common in the Gulf
States nor in desert regions of the Southwest [125].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - birch
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie
   FRES41  Wet grasslands
   FRES42  Annual grasslands
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AL  AK  AZ  AR  CA  CO  CT  DE  FL  GA
     HI  ID  IL  IN  IA  KS  KY  LA  ME  MD
     MA  MI  MN  MS  MO  MT  NE  NV  NH  NJ
     NM  NY  NC  ND  OH  OK  OR  PA  RI  SC
     SD  TN  TX  UT  VT  VA  WA  WV  WI  WY
     AB  BC  MB  NB  NF  NT  NS  ON  PE  PQ
     SK  YT  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  AGFO  ALPO  ARCH  BIHO  BISO
     BICA  BLCA  BLRI  BRCA  BUFF  CACH
     CACO  CALO  HALE  HAVO  HOSP  INDU
     ISRO  JODA  LACL  LAME  LAVO  LABE
     MACA  MANA  MEVE  MORA  NOCA  OBRI
     OLYM  OZAR  PIRO  PIPE  PORE  REDW
     RICH  ROCR  ROMO  SAGU  SAJH  SCBL
     SHEN  SHIL  SLBE  THRO  TICA  VOYA
     WHIS  WICA  YELL  ZION


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   Kentucky bluegrass is widespread and found in nearly all Kuchler Plant Associations.


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   Kentucky bluegrass is found in nearly all SAF cover types


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Kentucky bluegrass is an introduced plant and is therefore not used in
habitat typing.  It has, however, become naturalized across North
America and often occurs as a herbaceous layer dominant.  In the West,
Kentucky bluegrass frequently occurs as an understory dominant in aspen
(Populus tremuloides), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), sagebrush
(Artemesia spp.)/bunchgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata, Festuca scabrella,
F. idahoensis), bunchgrass, and riparian habitats.  It is also a common
dominant of midwestern prairies.

Ponderosa pine and bunchgrass habitat types:  Grazing-induced seral
stages in which Kentucky bluegrass is the herbaceous layer dominant are
widespread and common within ponderosa pine/bunchgrass,
sagebrush/bunchgrass, and bunchgrass habitat types [25,57].

Riparian communities:  Kentucky bluegrass is a common understory
dominant of low- to middle-elevation riparian communities throughout the
Mountain West.  These sites are typically gently sloping stream terraces
with a widely spaced overstory of cottonwood (Populus angustifolia, P.
deltoides, P. tricocarpa), water birch (Betula occidentalis), conifers,
or willows (Salix geyeriana, S. lutea, S. exigua) [46,62,88,128].
Kentucky bluegrass also dominates low- and middle-elevation riparian
meadows on broad floodplains and elevated stream terraces [62,88].  In
the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington,
Kentucky bluegrass dominance is an indicator of dry to moist meadow
conditions and soils that are dark brown to black and clayey [45].

Aspen/Kentucky bluegrass communities:  Aspen/Kentucky bluegrass and
aspen/mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus)/Kentucky bluegrass
community types are relatively uncommon but widespread across the
Intermountain Region [80].  In central Colorado, and in the Black Hills
of South Dakota, aspen stands with an understory dominated by Kentucky
bluegrass are fairly common [90,96].  The understory of aspen/Kentucky
bluegrass communities is relatively depauperate [82].

The following publications describe Kentucky-bluegrass-dominated
grasslands, and forests and woodlands where it occurs as a understory
dominant:

Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in
  northwestern Montana [13].
Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in central
  and eastern Montana [46].  
Riparian dominance types of Montana [47].
Riparian zone associations: Deschutes, Ochoco, Fremont, and Winema
  National Forests [58].
Riparian community type classification of Utah and southeastern Idaho
  [88].
Preliminary riparian community type classification for Nevada [68].
Riparian community type classification for eastern Idaho and western
  Wyoming [128].
Ecology and plant communities of the riparian area associated with
  Catherine Creek in northeastern Oregon [61].
A meadow site classification for the Sierra Nevada, California [91].  
Plant communities of the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and
  southeastern Washington [45].
Plant associations of the central Oregon pumice zone [119].  
Ecology and distribution of riparian vegetation in the Trout Creek
  Mountains of southeastern Oregon [32]. 
Plant associations of the Wallowa-Snake Province: Wallowa-Whitman
  National Forest [57].
Range plant communities of the Central Grasslands Research Station in
  south-central North Dakota [66].
Classification of native vegetation at the Woodworth Station, North
  Dakota [79].
Aspen community types of the Intermountain Region [80].
Aspen community types of Utah [82].
Aspen community types on the Caribou and Targhee National Forests in
  southeastern Idaho [81].
Aspen community types of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in
  south-central Colorado [90].
Classification of quaking aspen stands in the Black Hills and Bear Lodge
  Mountains [96].
Classification of deer habitat in the ponderosa pine forests of the
  Black Hills, South Dakota [109].

Related categories for Species: Poa pratensis | Kentucky Bluegrass