DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Artemisia cana ssp. cana | Plains Silver Sagebrush 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Plains silver sagebrush is the only woody Artemisia besides Wyoming big
sagebrush that occurs on the Great Plains.  Except for an isolated
segment along the Yampa River Valley in Colorado, this silver sagebrush
occurs east of the Continental Divide.  Compared with the other
subspecies, it has a more northern and eastern distribution.  It occurs
in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and ranges south through Montana,
Wyoming, and northern Colorado into central North and South Dakota and
northwestern Nebraska [1,15].  Several isolated populations have also
been reported in the eastern Dakotas [8].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie


STATES : 
     CO  MT  NE  ND  SD  WY  AB  SK


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BADL  BICA  DETO  FOBU  THRO  WICA
     YELL


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K017  Black Hills pine forest
   K056  Wheatgrass - needlegrass - wheatgrass
   K064  Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
   K065  Grama - buffalograss
   K066  Wheatgrass - needlegrass
   K067  Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
   K070  Sandsage - bluestem prairie
         Disturbed areas


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   237  Interior ponderosa pine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Mature stands of plains silver sagebrush indicate climax condition.  A
recent habitat type classification for Theodore Roosevelt National Park
in North Dakota and the Custer National Forest in Montana and the
Dakotas describes a plains silver sagebrush/western wheatgrass
(Pascopyrum smithii) shrubland habitat type [13,14].  A silver
sagebrush/ Idaho fescue (Artemisia cana/Festuca idahoensis) community
type is described for Yellowstone National Park, but although these
sites occur east of the Continental Divide in Wyoming, it is unclear
whether plants belong to the plains or mountain form of this species.

Publications that classify plains silver sagebrush as a dominant or
indicator species are listed below: 

The vegetation of the Grand River/Cedar River, Sioux, and Ashland
  Districts of the Custer National Forest: a habitat type classification [13]
The vegetation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota: a
  habitat type classification [14]

Related categories for Species: Artemisia cana ssp. cana | Plains Silver Sagebrush