DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Western Snowberry 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Western snowberry occurs from British Columbia east to Ontario and south
to Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Missouri [50,114,127].
It is also found in Michigan [77,114,131].  Western snowberry is most
commonly found in the northern Great Plains [50].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White-red-jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce-fir
   FRES17  Elm-ash-cottonwood
   FRES19  Aspen-birch
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir-spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES35  Pinyon-juniper
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie


STATES : 
     CO  ID  IL  IA  KS  MI  MN  MO  MT  NE
     NM  ND  OK  SD  UT  WA  WI  WY  AB  BC
     MB  ON  SK


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BADL  BICA  BLCA  DETO  DINO  FOUS
     GLAC  KNRI  PIPE  ROMO  SCBL  WICA
     YELL


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper 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 : 
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce-fir forest
   K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K017  Black Hills pine forest
   K018  Pine-Douglas-fir forest
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K037  Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K050  Fescue-wheatgrass
   K055  Sagebrush steppe
   K056  Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe
   K063  Foothills prairie
   K064  Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass
   K066  Wheatgrass-needlegrass
   K067  Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
   K068  Wheatgrass-grama-buffalograss
   K069  Bluestem-grama prairie
   K070  Sandsage-bluestem prairie
   K074  Bluestem prairie
   K075  Nebraska Sandhills prairie
   K081  Oak savanna
   K093  Great Lakes spruce-fir forest
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest
   K101  Elm-ash forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
     1  Jack pine
    12  Black spruce
    15  Red pine
    16  Aspen
    18  Paper birch
    21  Eastern white pine
    42  Bur oak
    63  Cottonwood
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   217  Aspen
   220  Rocky Mountain juniper
   222  Black cottonwood-willow
   224  Western hemlock
   227  Western redcedar-western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   235  Cottonwood-willow
   236  Bur oak
   237  Interior ponderosa pine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
   102  Idaho fescue
   109  Ponderosa pine shrubland
   301  Bluebunch wheatgrass-blue grama
   303  Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass
   304  Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass
   309  Idaho fescue-western wheatgrass
   310  Needle-and-thread-blue grama
   311  Rough fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass
   316  Big sagebrush-rough fescue
   401  Basin big sagebrush
   402  Mountain big sagebrush
   409  Tall forb
   411  Aspen woodland
   413  Gambel oak
   415  Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
   416  True mountain-mahogany
   421  Chokecherry-serviceberry-rose
   422  Riparian
   601  Bluestem prairie
   602  Bluestem-prairie sandreed
   603  Prairie sandreed-needlegrass
   606  Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
   607  Wheatgrass-needlegrass
   608  Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass
   609  Wheatgrass-grama
   613  Fescue grassland


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Western snowberry occurs in a variety of habitats including grassland,
mixed-grass prairie, shrubland, sagebrush, woodland, and riparian
[2,5,7,21,56,66].  

Western snowberry is common in floodplain and riparian habitats.  In
Montana western snowberry is found along the floodplain of the
Yellowstone River.  Common associates include plains cottonwood (Populus
deltoides var. monilifera), willows (Salix spp.), and Wood's rose (Rosa
woodsii) [2,18].  In Wyoming and Colorado western snowberry is a common
riverine floodplain shrub in plains cottonwood and willow communities
[31,42,90,103].  Associates include peachleaf willow (Salix
amygdaloides), thinleaf alder (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia),
chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), and red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea).

In eastern Montana and western North and South Dakota, western snowberry
is an important species in woodland and riparian draws dominated by
green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) [21,47].  A green ash/western
snowberry habitat type has been described.  Common associates include
American elm (Ulmus americana), boxelder (Acer negundo), silver
buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier
alnifolia), American plum (Prunus americana), and chokecherry.  In
western Montana western snowberry may form dense ecotonal thickets
around silver buffaloberry stands [54].

A western snowberry shrub community type has been described for Montana,
North Dakota, and Alberta [5,54,55,56].  Western snowberry often forms
dense monotypic stands with little understory.  Some common understory
species include rough fescue (Festuca scabrella), Kentucky bluegrass
(Poa pratense), and western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii).

Western snowberry is an important species in native shortgrass and
mixed-grass prairies of the northern Great Plains.  In North Dakota
western snowberry is commonly found in shrub-grassland communities
dominated by western wheatgrass, needlegrass (Stipa spp.), blue grama
(Bouteloua gracilis), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
[7,23,28,82].

In the Black Hills a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)/western snowberry
habitat type has been described.  Associates include Oregon-grape
(Mahonia repens), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), American hazel (Corylus
americana), and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) [1,64].

Western snowberry is found in forested habitats dominated by Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) [16,81].
In British Columbia a Douglas-fir/Idaho fescue (Festuca
idahoensis)-western snowberry association is described [81].

In Alberta and Saskatchewan western snowberry is commonly found in
quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) parkland with rough fescue,
porcupine grass (Stipa spartea), and silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata)
[4,29].

The following publications list western snowberry as a community
dominant:

Classification and management of riparian and wetland sites in
  northwestern Montana [19]
Native woodland habitat types of southwestern North Dakota [48]
Classification and management of riparian-wetland shrub sites in Montana
  [53]
The vegetation of the Grand River/Cedar River, Sioux, and Ashland
  Districts of the Custer National Forest: a habitat type classification [54] 
The vegetation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota: a
  habitat type classification [55]
Forest vegetation of the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota and
  Wyoming: a habitat type classification [64]

Related categories for Species: Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Western Snowberry