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Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions Definitions Forest: Areas dominated by trees with a total canopy cover of 61% or more, tree crowns usually interlocking. Woodland: Areas dominated by trees with a total canopy cover of 26-60%, most tree crowns not touching each other. Shrubland: Areas dominated by shrubs that generally exceed 0.5 meters in height with a total canopy cover of 26% or more. A tree canopy cover of less than 26% may be present. Grassland: Areas dominated by grass, grass like, or forb vegetation with a tree or shrub cover less than 26%. Land Cover Types Click on a land cover (vegetation type) of interest to navigate to a brief description. Agriculture, dry-land Pine, whitebark Sand dunes, active/bare Agriculture, irrigated Playa, unvegetated Sand dunes, vegetated Alpine exposed rock/soil Prairie, mixed (mid) grass Shrub, bitterbrush steppe Aspen forest Prairie, short grass Shrub, desert Basin exposed rock/soil Residential development Shrub, mesic upland Bur oak woodland Riparian, forest-dominated Shrub, xeric upland Douglas fir Riparian, grass-dominated Snow, permanent Grassland, Great Basin foothills Riparian, shrub-dominated Spruce-fir Greasewood fans and flats Sagebrush, basin big Subalpine meadow Juniper woodland Sagebrush, Black steppe Tundra, meadow Pine, limber Sagebrush, mountain big Water Pine, lodgepole Sagebrush, Wyoming big Pine, ponderosa Saltbush fans and flats Documentation compiled from CO and WY GAP Analysis Programs. Compiled by the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC) specifically for use in the Wyoming Biodiversity Citizen Science Initiative (WyoBio) Mapping Application. Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 1 Agriculture, Dry Land Crops Dominant Species: (see Diagnostic Species) Description: This type includes non-irrigated cropland, dryland improved pastures, fallow lands, rural development, ranch and farm facilities and shelter belts. Distribution: Throughout the state of Wyoming. Diagnostic Species: Small grains, wheat, barley, rye, any non-irrigated crop. Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 2 Agriculture, Irrigated Crops Dominant Species: (see Diagnostic Species) Description: Any irrigated agricultural area. Includes most row crops, irrigated pastureland and hay fields and associated farm or ranch facilities. Distribution: Throughout the state of Wyoming. Diagnostic Species: Row crops, corn, beans, irrigated hayfields and pastures. Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 3 Alpine Exposed Rock and Soil Dominant Species: Not applicable Description: This type includes naturally occurring areas of bare rock such as cliffs, spires, rock outcrops and talus fields as well as steep scarps of soft rock with total vegetative cover less than 5%. Distribution: High elevations throughout the state of Wyoming. Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 4 Aspen forest Dominant Species: Rocky Mountain aspen (Populus tremuloides) Description: Forest in which aspen dominates the canopy. Includes pure aspen forest and mixed conifer aspen forest where aspens make up over 50% of the total canopy. Total canopy coverage of trees must be greater than 25%. Distribution: Throughout the state of Wyoming. Elevation Range: 1830-3050 meters (6000-10000 feet) Diagnostic Species: Populus tremuloides Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 5 Basin Exposed Rock and Soil Dominant Species: Not applicable Description: This type includes naturally occurring areas of bare rock such as cliffs, spires, rock outcrops and talus fields as well as steep scarps of soft rock with total vegetative cover less than 5%. Distribution: Basins throughout the state of Wyoming. Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 6 Bur Oak Woodland Dominant Species: Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Description: Bur oak forms solid or mixed stands on slopes, and is widely scattered in a savanna-like association on the ridge tops. It co-dominates in various proportions with Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). The understory is relatively depauperate, even under full canopy cover, and there is a high diversity of annuals, including Nuttallanthus texanus, and a high proportion of exotic grasses and forbs. Openings are often dominated by the rhizomatous sedge, Carex inops (C. heliophila), with shrubs confined to the more wooded stands. Distribution: Bur oak is at the extreme western edge of its range in Wyoming, where it occurs in several localized, though fairly large, occurrences along the northeastern boarder with South Dakota in the Black Hills. Diagnostic Species: Artemisia nova Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 7 Douglas fir Dominant Species: Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Description: Forests dominated by Douglas fir. This type includes both intact Douglas fir forests and those affected by logging (when contiguous logged areas are smaller than 100 ha.). Distribution: Throughout the state of Colorado. Elevation Range: 1650-2800 meters (5400-9000 feet) Diagnostic Species: Pseudotsuga menziesii Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 8 Grassland, Great Basin Foothills Dominant Species: Galleta (Hilaria jamesii) and Indian Ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), Greene rabbitbrush (Chysothamnus greenii), and big sage (Artemisia tridentata) Description: Grasslands of mountain foothills, mesa tops and piedmont slopes (bajadas). Distribution: found in isolated areas in northwestern and north-central Wyoming. These grasslands often occur in a matrix with Great Basin Lowland/Swale Grasslands, Desert Scrub and Open Conifer Woodlands. Elevation Range: 1400-2220 meters (4500-7200 feet) Diagnostic Species: Galleta (Hilaria jamesii) and Indian Ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), Greene rabbitbrush (Chysothamnus greenii), and big sage (Artemisia tridentata) Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 9 Greasewood Fans and Flats Dominant Species: Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) Description: Areas where greasewood comprises more than 75% of the total shrub cover and more than 25% of the total vegetative cover. Often found mixed with grasses. Greasewood is frequently found in riparian areas and classified as shrub riparian, with greasewood classified as secondary vegetation type within the polygon. Distribution: This type is associated with halomorphic soils. It is generally in lowland situations, with the free water table at least occasionally present at the surface and usually remaining within 1 meter of the surface. This species has been associated with Artemisia tridentata ssp. Tridentate. This type occurs throughout Wyoming’s basins and eastern plains. Elevation Range: 1400-2600 meters (4500-8500 feet) Diagnostic Species: Sarcobatus vermiculatus Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 10 Juniper woodland Dominant Species: Juniper (Juniperus monosperma, Juniperus osteosperma, Juniperus scopulorum) Description: Woodland dominated by species of Juniper. Junipers must comprise more than 25% of the total vegetative cover. Often occurs with mountain mahogany, sagebrush and limber pine. Distribution: Foothills and rocky outcrops throughout the southwest part of Wyoming, along rocky outcrops, and around the edges of the Bighorn Basin. Elevation Range: 1525-2130 meters (5000-7000 feet) Diagnostic Species: Juniperus monosperma, Juniperus osteosperma, Juniperus scopulorum Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 11 Pine, Limber Dominant Species: Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) Description: Areas dominated by limber pine. This type includes closed canopy forest dominated by limber pine to more open limber pine woodland where limber pine consists of more than 25% of the total vegetative cover. Often co-occurs with juniper woodland and with shrubs or grasses in the understory. Distribution: Occurs along mid elevations in certain Wyoming mountain ranges (including the Laramie Mountains). Elevation Range: 1524-3354 meters (5000-11000 feet) Diagnostic Species: Pinus flexilis Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 12 Pine, Lodgepole Dominant Species: Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) Description: Forest which is dominated by lodgepole pine and not significantly affected by logging. Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir may be mixed with the canopy trees or important in the understory, but not as dominants. Distribution: Lodgepole pine is found in the mountainous regions of Wyoming along the mid to high elevations between sagebrush basins and spruce fir highlands. Elevation Range: 1830-3354 meters (6000-11000 feet) found especially above 2440 meters Diagnostic Species: Pinus contorta Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 13 Pine, Ponderosa Dominant Species: Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) Description: Ponderosa pine dominated forest or woodland that is not significantly affected by logging. Canopy closure may vary from 26-100%. Distribution: Found in Wyoming east of the continental divide from the Wyoming border northward. The low elevation habitat of ponderosa pine occurs only along the far eastern fringe of the Rocky Mountain region (Black Hills, Bighorn Mountains, Laramie Range and rocky outcrops in between). Elevation Range: 1524-2744 meters (5000-9000 feet) Diagnostic Species: Pinus ponderosa Simplified Land Cover (Vegetation) Type Descriptions | 14 Pine, Whitebark Dominant Species: Pinus albicaulis Engelm. Description: Whitebark
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