DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Juniperus scopulorum | Rocky Mountain Juniper 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Rocky Mountain juniper is widely distributed throughout much of the
Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, and Northern Plains.
It occurs from the drier lower foothills of central British Columbia and
Alberta, southward through Montana, eastern Washington and Oregon to
Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona [6,21].  Rocky Mountain juniper
extends from eastern Nevada to western Texas and the Dakotas [13,33].
It is cultivated in Hawaii [34].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie


STATES : 
     AZ  CO  HI  ID  MT  NE  NV  NM  ND  OK
     OR  SD  TX  UT  WA  WY  AB  BC  SK  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BADL  BAND  BICA  BLCA  BRCA  CACH
     CACA  CEBR  CODA  CRMO  DETO  DINO
     FLFO  FOBU  GLAC  GRCA  GRTE  GRKO
     GRSA  GUMO  MEVE  NABR  NOCA  OLYM
     ROMO  SAJH  SCBL  THRO  TICA  WACA
     WICA  YELL  ZION


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade 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 : 
   K11  Western ponderosa forest
   K12  Douglas-fir forest
   K16  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K17  Black Hills pine forest
   K18  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K19  Arizona pine forest
   K21  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K23  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K37  Mountain mahogany - oak scrub
   K38  Great Basin sagebrush
   K40  Saltbush - greasewood
   K55  Sagebrush steppe
   K56  Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
   K63  Foothills prairie
   K64  Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
   K65  Grama - buffalograss
   K66  Wheatgrass - needlegrass
   K67  Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
   K68  Wheatgrass - grama - buffalo grass
   K70  Sandsage - bluestem prairie
   K74  Bluestem prairie
   K81  Oak savanna
   K98  Northern floodplain forest
        Disturbed areas


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   219  Limber pine
   220  Rocky Mountain juniper
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   239  Pinyon - juniper


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Rocky Mountain juniper occurs most commonly in open woodlands, or with
sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and grasses.  In the northern portion of its
range, Rocky Mountain juniper occurs in pure, open stands with ponderosa
pine (Pinus ponderosa) on southern and western exposures, and with
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga mensiezii) on north and east-facing slopes.  At
higher elevations, Rocky Mountain juniper grows with limber pine (P.
flexilis), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), whitebark pine (P. albicaulis),
subalpine larch (Larix lyallii), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii),
and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa).  It occurs with Douglas-fir and
Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) along the Pacific Coast of
Washington [6].

Although the understory is variable, big sagebrush (A. tridentata) is
the most common understory plant in the Pacific Northwest and
Intermountain region.  Other important shrubs include antelope
bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), and rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.).
In the Southwest, Rocky Mountain juniper occurs with Gambel oak (Q.
gambelii), wavyleaf oak (Q. undulata), and broom snakeweed (Gutierrez
sarothrae).  It is commonly found with bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus
elymoides), Sandberg bluegrass (Posa sucunda), and Indian ricegrass
(Oryzopsis hymenoides) in the northern part of its range, and with blue
grama (Bouteloua gracilis) in the Southwest [21].  In parts of the
Southwest, Rocky Mountain juniper grows in almost pure uneven-aged
stands, or with black cottonwood (Populus tricocarpa) along
streambottoms [6].  Rocky Mountain juniper reaches to the edges of
pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) woodlands where it is found with
pinyon and one-seed juniper (J. monosperma) [6,33].  It occurs with Utah
juniper (J. osteosperma) on the Coconino Plateau [6].

Rocky Mountain juniper is an indicator of climax in a variety of dry
conifer, sagebrush grassland and mountain brushland habitat types.  It
occurs as a codominant with ponderosa pine, pinyon, Gambel oak, big
sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus
montanus), common snowberry (Symphoriocarpos albus), bluebunch
wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum
smithii), blue grama, and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).  

A list of publications naming Rocky Mountain juniper as a dominant
species in vegetation, habitat, or community type classifications
follows.

Presettlement vegetation of part of northwest Moffat County, Colorado [1]
Sagebrush-steppe habitat types in northern Colorado: a first
  approximation [7]
Native woodland ecology and habitat classification of southwestern North
  Dakota [9]
The vegetation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota: a
  habitat type classification [10]
Grassland, shrubland, and forestland habitat types of the White
  River-Arapaho National Forest [12]
Forest vegetation of the White River National Forest in western
  Colorado: a habitat type classification [14]
Key to the forested plant associtaions of northern Colorado and southern
  Wyoming [16]
Forest habitat types of Montana [20]
Plant associations (habitat types) of Region 2., 3rd ed. [28]
Forest habitat types on the Medicine Bow National Forest, southeastern
  Wyoming: preliminary report [32]

Related categories for Species: Juniperus scopulorum | Rocky Mountain Juniper