DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Acer grandidentatum | Bigtooth Maple 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Bigtooth maple has a spotty distribution, occurring in mountainous areas
from southeastern Idaho and western Wyoming south to Arizona, New
Mexico, western Texas, and northern Mexico [38,39].  It is most common
along a north-south axis from southeastern Idaho to central Utah, where
it may form nearly solid stands.  Farther south, bigtooth maple occurs
as isolated populations in numerous isolated mountain ranges.


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper


STATES : 
     AZ  CO  ID  MT  NM  OK  TX  UT  WY  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BIBE  BRCA  CHIR  GRCA  GUMO  MEVE
     ZION


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K020  Spruce - Fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K032  transition between K031 and K037
   K037  Mountain mahogany - oak scrub
   K055  Sagebrush steppe
   K098  Northern floodplain forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   206  Englemann spruce - subalpine fir
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   217  Aspen
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   240  Arizona cypress


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Bigtooth maple and Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) often codominate
montane chaparral in Utah.  These maple-oak brushlands are quite
extensive, generally forming a belt between lower elevation sagebrush or
pinyon-juniper and higher elevation Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii),
white fir (Abies concolor), or aspen (Populus tremuloides) communities
[9].  In northern Utah and on some sites in central Utah, bigtooth maple
appears to be the climax dominant in this zone.  Unfortunately no
habitat type classifications have been completed for these sites.

Above the mountain-brush zone in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho,
bigtooth maple generally occurs as scattered plants within Douglas-fir,
subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), or white fir habitat types [44,62].

In Arizona and New Mexico, a white fir/bigtooth maple habitat type has
been identified in numerous national forests [1,17,23,46].  This habitat
type occurs infrequently and is almost always found along canyon bottoms
or some type of concave drainage [1,23,69].  In Arizona and New Mexico,
bigtooth maple also occurs with cottonwoods (Populus spp.), ashes
(Fraxinus spp.), alders (Alnus spp.), and willows (Salix spp.), forming
riparian deciduous woodlands [10,36].

In Texas, bigtooth maple is restricted to canyons or streambanks within
the mountains.  These riparian locations are usually within oak (Quercus
gravesii, Q. emoryi, Q.grisea)-juniper (Juniperus deppeana, J.
pinchotti)-pinyon (Pinus remota, P.cembroides, P. edulus) woodlands or
Douglas-fir-Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) forests [45,53].

Published classification schemes listing bigtooth maple as a dominant
part of the vegetation in habitat types (hts) or community types (cts)
are listed below.

  Area              Classification                  Authority

AZ, NM             spruce-fir and              Moir & Ludwig 1979
                   mixed conifer hts

AZ, NM             forest veg. hts             Fitzhugh & others 1987

AZ, NM             forest veg. hts             DeVelice & Ludwig 1983

AZ,NM              riparian cts                Szaro 1990a   

AZ: Tonta NF       mixed broadleaf             Laurenzi & others 1983
                   riparian forest cts

NM: Lincoln NF     forest veg. hts             Alexander & others 1984

UT                 aspen cts                   Mueggler & Campbell 1986

UT: Wasatch Mtns   general veg. cts            Allan 1962
 
TX: Big Bend NP    forest and woodland hts     Moir 1982

Related categories for Species: Acer grandidentatum | Bigtooth Maple