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

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:

Wyoming big sagebrush occurs from Montana and North Dakota south to California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska [64,133,144]. Its population distribution is poorly understood in areas where it overlaps with other big sagebrush subspecies [139,144].

ECOSYSTEMS:

FRES21   Ponderosa pine
FRES29   Sagebrush
FRES30   Desert shrub
FRES34   Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35   Pinyon-juniper

STATES:

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:

 5  Columbia Plateau
 6  Upper Basin and Range
10  Wyoming Basin
11  Southern Rocky Mountains
12  Colorado Plateau

KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

K005  Mixed conifer forest
K010  Ponderosa shrub forest		
K011  Western ponderosa forest  
K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
K023  Juniper-pinyon woodland  	
K024  Juniper steppe woodlands
K037  Mountain mahogany-oak scrub
K038  Great Basin sagebrush		
K039  Blackbrush				
K040  Saltbush-greasewood
K055  Sagebrush steppe 			
K056  Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe 
K057  Galleta-three-awn shrubsteppe

SAF COVER TYPES:

209  Bristlecone pine
219  Limber pine
220  Rocky Mountain juniper
237  Interior ponderosa pine    		
238  Western juniper   				
239  Pinyon-juniper
243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
245  Pacific ponderosa pine    		
247  Jeffrey pine

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:

107   Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
212   Blackbush
314   Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass	
315   Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue	
317   Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass	
318   Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
320   Black sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass	
321   Black sagebrush-Idaho fescue	
322   Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass
324   Threetip sagebrush-Idaho fescue
401   Basin big sagebrush	
402   Mountain big sagebrush	
403   Wyoming big sagebrush	
404   Threetip sagebrush	
405   Black sagebrush	
406   Low sagebrush
412   Juniper-pinyon woodland	
413   Gambel oak
414   Salt desert shrub
420   Snowbrush
501   Saltbush-greasewood
504   Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
612   Sagebrush-grass

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:

Wyoming big sagebrush steppe communities are prevalent in the West. Wyoming big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) is the most common of the big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass types [95]. Other codominants in Wyoming big sagebrush steppe include western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), Thurber needlegrass (Achnatherum thurberianum), and needle-and-thread grass (Hesperostipa comata) [37,54,67,86]. Although not often used in vegetation classifications, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is also a dominant species in some Wyoming big sagebrush steppe communities [37]. Evenden [46] described a Wyoming big sagebrush/cheatgrass community in the Trout Creek Mountains of southeastern Oregon where Wyoming big sagebrush and cheatgrass comprised 40 and 28% cover, respectively.

Wyoming big sagebrush occurs in pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) woodlands and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa) forests, often as a dominant shrub [42,109,127,147]. It is the most abundant big sagebrush subspecies in singleleaf pinyon (P. monophylla)-Utah juniper (J. osteosperma) communities of northern Arizona [69]. It is also common in singleleaf pinyon-Utah juniper communities of the northern Great Basin [147].

Species diversity is lower in Wyoming big sagebrush communities than in other big sagebrush types. A few perennial forb species are usually present in low numbers [27]. Common associates of Wyoming big sagebrush are listed below by state.

AZ: Associates in singleleaf pinyon-Utah juniper/Wyoming big sagebrush of northern Arizona include blue grama, bottlebrush squirreltail, Indian ricegrass, mutton grass (Poa fendleriana), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), and green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) [69].

CA/NV: In Humboldt National Forest, Nevada, Wyoming big sagebrush codominates with bluebunch wheatgrass and bottlebrush squirreltail [72,73]. Other associates common in Wyoming big sagebrush communities of eastern California and western Nevada include fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), California brome (Bromus carinatus), needle-and-thread grass, Thurber needlegrass, and Idaho fescue [70].

Associates in singleleaf pinyon/Wyoming big sagebrush community in Nevada include Sandberg bluegrass and slender false phlox (Microsteris gracilis). Annuals, especially blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora), are important in wet years [47].

CO: Associates of Wyoming big sagebrush in northern Colorado include black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus), green rabbitbrush, Sandberg bluegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, blue grama, pine needlegrass (A. pinetorum), mutton grass, Hood's phlox (Phlox hoodii), and Engelmann's fleabane (Erigeron engelmannii) [75,128].

ID: Wyoming big sagebrush communities are common in southern Idaho [76]. On the Snake River Plain, community associates include budsage (Artemisia spinescens), shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), littleleaf horsebrush (Tetradymia glabrata), green rabbitbrush, winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), Indian ricegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg bluegrass, and cheatgrass [26]. Soil crusts of cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses including twisted moss (Tortula ruralis), fire moss (Ceratodaon purpureus), Bryum argenteum, and Funaria hygrometrica may be well represented. Thick stands of cheatgrass usually exclude soil crust biota [76].

MT: Important associates in a Wyoming big sagebrush/western wheatgrass community near Miles City include needle-and-thread grass, blue grama, Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus), cheatgrass, threadleaf sedge (Carex filifolia), fringed sagewort (A. frigida), and western salsify (Tragopogon dubius) [63].

Associated species in Wyoming big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass of western Montana include Indian ricegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg bluegrass, cheatgrass, Hood's phlox, low fleabane (Erigeron pumilis), and green rabbitbrush [113].

OR: Associates in a western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)/Wyoming big sagebrush community on the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range include Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), bushy bird's beak (Cordylanthus ramosus), scabland fleabane (Eriogonum bloomeri), desert yellow fleabane (E. linearis), and green rabbitbrush [49].

In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa) forest, associates include western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), mountain big sagebrush, wax currant (Ribes cereum), low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula), green rabbitbrush, common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), and Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) [109].

WY: On Shoshone National Forest, associates of Wyoming big sagebrush include mountain big sagebrush, fringed sagebrush, broom snakeweed, bluebunch wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and needle-and-thread grass. Phlox and Antennaria species are common [131].

Classifications describing plant communities dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush are as follows:

Presettlement vegetation of part of northwestern Moffat County, Colorado, described from remnants [5]
Seral stage classification and monitoring model for big sagebrush/western wheatgrass/blue grama habitat [13]
Identification of the Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis/Festuca idahoensis habitat type in eastern Oregon [37]
Pinyon-Juniper woodland understory distribution patterns and species associations [47]
Sagebrush-steppe habitat types in northern Colorado: a first approximation [54]
Preliminary descriptions of the terrestrial natural communities of California [70]
Sagebrush-grass habitat types of southern Idaho [67]
A sagebrush community type classification for mountainous northeastern Nevada rangelands [72]
Plant associations of Region Two: potential plant communities of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas [75]
A preliminary description of plant communities found on the Sawtooth, White Cloud, Boulder, and Pioneer Mountains [113]
Shrub-steppe habitat types of Middle Park, Colorado [128]
Grassland and shrubland habitat types of the Shoshone National Forest [131]
A management-oriented classification of pinyon-juniper woodlands of the Great Basin [147]

Collins and Harper [33] describe a common habitat type on the Curlew National Grasslands, Idaho, that is dominated by a Wyoming big sagebrush × mountain big sagebrush hybrid.

Related categories for SPECIES: Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis | Wyoming Big Sagebrush