DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pinus aristata | Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The range of Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine extends from the eastern
slope of the southern Rocky Mountains in the Laramie Range of
southwestern Wyoming southward through the eastern San Juan Mountains of
Colorado to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains east of Sante Fe, New Mexico.
A disjunct population occurs 200 miles (500 km) west in north-central
Arizona in the San Francisco Peaks [1,5,7,9,11,24,32].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine


STATES : 
     AZ  CO  NM  WY


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     FLFO


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   206  Englemann spruce - subalpine fir
   209  Bristlecone pine
   219  Limber pine
   237  Interior ponderosa pine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Stands of Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine are usually pure, even aged,
and open.  Trees associated with this species are limber pine (Pinus
flexilis), white fir (Abies concolor), Engelmann spruce (Picea
engelmannii), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), pinyon pine (P. edulis),
subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), aspen (Populus tremuloides), and Rocky
Mountain juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) [11].

The Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine series occurs on cold, dry sites at
high elevations in pure stands or with limber pine.  It grades into
Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir at lower elevations.  In southern
Colorado and northern New Mexico, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine and
Engelmann spruce codominate in the Englemann spruce series.  This series
occurs on middle and upper slopes over 10,500 feet (3,200 m) and in the
spruce-fir zone where tree growth is limited by drought.  In the
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) series at higher elevations, Rocky
Mountain bristlecone pine dominates or codominates.  Publications using
Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine in classification schemes are listed
below.

Forest vegetation of the Gunnison and parts of the Uncompahgre National
  Forests:  a preliminary habitat type classification. [14]
Major habitat types, community types and plant communities in the Rocky
  Mountains [1]
Preliminary classification for the coniferous forest and woodland series
  of Arizona and New Mexico. [20]
A preliminary classification of the natural vegetation of Colorado. [3]
A series vegetation classification for Region 3. [26]

Related categories for Species: Pinus aristata | Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine