South Central Rockies forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Nearctic |
Biome | Temperate coniferous forest |
Borders | |
Bird species | 201 [1] |
Mammal species | 99 [1] |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
States | |
Conservation | |
Habitat loss | 1.6644% [1] |
Protected | 82.66% [1] |
The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.
This ecoregion is located mainly in western Wyoming, but also in eastern and central Idaho, south-western and south-central Montana, northeastern Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota. It is centered on the Yellowstone Plateau, extending outward on connected mountain ranges, but the ecoregion also includes the isolated Bighorn Mountains and Black Hills, as well as smaller isolated ranges in central Montana. The area has a dry continental climate, with brief summers and long, cold winters. [2]
The ecoregion is predominantly coniferous forest, dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta latifolia) due to relatively recent major fires in the area. Other trees include Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmanni ), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii glauca), Ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa ) and trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides ). Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is an important species at the upper tree line/krummholz zone. This ecoregion also contains mountain meadows, foothill grasslands, sagebrush steppes, riparian woodlands, and alpine tundra. In some areas, geothermal activity creates distinct, warm habitats with unique floral communities.
Mammals of this ecoregion include elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), plains bison (Bison bison bison), Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi), cougar (Puma concolor), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), northwestern wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis), black bear ( Ursus americanus cinnamomum ), bobcat (Lynx rufus) and Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), coyote (Canis latrans), North American beaver (Castor canadensis), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). [2]
Birds are typical of the forested portions of the northern Rocky Mountains, including Steller's jay, black-capped chickadee, and pine siskin. This ecoregion boasts a very rich avifauna, including such specialists as white pelican, trumpeter swan, and (black) rosy finch. Other typical species include harlequin duck, Barrow's goldeneye, Swainson's hawk, bald eagle, osprey, sage grouse, sandhill crane, Franklin's gull, American dipper, Townsend's solitaire, yellow-rumped warbler, and Brewer's sparrow. [3] Herpetofauna typical of this ecoregion are the spotted frog, prairie rattlesnake, rubber boa, boreal toad, and blotched tiger salamander. [3]
Though large portions of this ecoregion are protected, its conservation status is listed as "vulnerable". Indiscriminate logging of unprotected areas and the deaths of grizzly bears and possibly wolves by ungulate hunters are the main threats to this ecoregion's integrity. Protected areas include Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming, south-central Montana and eastern Idaho, Grand Teton National Park in western Wyoming, Cloud Peak Wilderness in north-central Wyoming, and Black Elk Wilderness in southwestern South Dakota.
There are at least 14 large mammal and 50 small mammal species known to occur in Glacier National Park.
The Cascade Mountains leeward forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The eastern forest–boreal transition is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America, mostly in eastern Canada. It is a transitional zone or region between the predominantly coniferous Boreal Forest and the mostly deciduous broadleaf forest region further south.
The Alberta Mountain forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. This ecoregion borders Canada's taiga and contains a mix of subarctic forest and temperate forest species as a result. This makes the region an ecotone region, or a region that acts as a buffer between two other biomes.
The ecology of the Rocky Mountains is diverse due to the effects of a variety of environmental factors. The Rocky Mountains are the major mountain range in western North America, running from the far north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southwestern United States, climbing from the Great Plains at or below 1,800 feet (550 m) to peaks of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine and boreal habitats of the Northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the coniferous forests of Montana and Idaho, the wetlands and prairie where the Rockies meet the plains, a different mix of conifers on the Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming and in the high Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico, and finally the alpine tundra of the highest elevations.
The Yukon Interior dry forests is a taiga ecoregion of Canada.
The Muskwa-Slave Lake forests ecoregion covers Canadian taiga in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and a large portion of the southwestern Northwest Territories around the Mackenzie River valley and the Great Slave Lake.
The Colorado Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States.
The Wasatch and Uinta montane forest is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Wasatch Range and Uinta Mountains of the western Rocky Mountains system, in the Western United States.
The North Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States. This region overlaps in large part with the North American inland temperate rainforest and gets more rain on average than the South Central Rockies forests and is notable for containing the only inland populations of many species from the Pacific coast.
The Mid-Continental Canadian forests are a taiga ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion, in the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome, are of northern Canada.
There are 67 native species of mammals in Rocky Mountain National Park, a 265,461 acres (107,428 ha) park in Colorado. Species are listed by common name, scientific name, habitat, and abundance. Species which are extirpated, or locally extinct, are marked with an EX.
The Northwest Territories taiga ecoregion (WWF:NA0614) is located in the Northwest Territories and Yukon provinces of Canada. It covers forest and tundra along the Mackenzie River Valley and the surrounding highlands in the southern portion of the valley.