Vegetation Alliances and Associations of the Great Valley Ecoregion, California
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Vegetation Alliances and Associations of the Great Valley Ecoregion, California By Jennifer Buck-Diaz, Scott Batiuk and Julie M. Evens California Native Plant Society, Vegetation Program 2707 K Street, Suite 1 Sacramento, CA 95816 April 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding and In-kind Contributions California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) – In-kind staff time for field crew training, land owner access and logistics; reconnaissance and accuracy assessment field survey work in the Great Valley Ecoregion; contributed and compiled field survey data for classification analysis; review and advisement on a floristic and mapping classification California Department of Water Resources – Regional funding and assistance with land access California Native Plant Society – Contributed and compiled field survey data for classification analysis and report Geographical Information Center, Chico State University – Collaborating partner as mapping contractor Strategic Growth Council – Regional funding Field and Office Staff CDFG staff included Rachelle Boul, Mary Jo Colletti, Michael Gordon, Diana Hickson, Anne Klein, Todd Keeler-Wolf, Aicha Ougzin, Cynthia Roye, Joseph Stewart, and Rosie Yacoub CNPS staff included Scott Batiuk, Jennifer Buck-Diaz, Rebecca Crowe, Julie Evens, and Deborah Stout Collaborators Contributing Additional Vegetation Data in this Project Area California Department of Fish and Game, Region 4 Private Consultant, Carol Witham Solano Land Trust (Rush Ranch), Jessie Olson The Nature Conservancy, Sasha Gennet University of California, Berkeley Range Ecology Lab University of California, Davis, Ayzik Solomeshch University of California, Davis, M.G. Barbour Vernal Pool Team i TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... i Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Background and Standards .......................................................................................................... 1 Table 1. Classification of Vegetation: Example Hierarchy .................................................... 2 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Study Area ................................................................................................................................3 Field Sampling ..........................................................................................................................3 Vegetation Classification Data and Analysis.............................................................................3 Figure 1. Study area map of new and compiled surveys ...................................................... 4 Table 2. Count of compiled field survey data by project. ...................................................... 5 Descriptions and Stand Tables .................................................................................................7 Results ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Species and Survey Data .......................................................................................................10 Vegetation Data and Analysis.................................................................................................10 Changes Since the 2nd Edition of the Manual of California Vegetation..................................10 Table 3. Vegetation classification for the Great Valley Ecoregion ...................................... 12 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 24 Appendix 1. Protocol and field forms used for vegetation sampling in 2010 and 2011............... 29 Appendix 2. List of plants analyzed in all surveys of the Great Valley Ecoregion with scientific names and nativity status accepted by UCB (2009) and codes and common names by USDA- NRCS (2011). ............................................................................................................................. 41 Appendix 3. Field key to vegetation types of the Great Valley, California. ................................. 71 Appendix 4. Descriptions and stand tables summarizing the environmental, vegetation and plant constancy/cover data for alliances and associations in the Great Valley Ecoregion. ............... 114 A. Tree Overstory Types........................................................................................................... 114 Acer negundo Alliance (Box-elder forest) ................................................................................. 114 Acer negundo Association ....................................................................................................115 Acer negundo–Salix gooddingii Association .........................................................................116 Aesculus californica Alliance (California buckeye groves)........................................................ 117 Aesculus californica/Toxicodendron diversilobum/Moss Association ...................................118 Ailanthus altissima Provisional Semi-Natural Stands (Tree-of-heaven groves)........................ 119 Alnus rhombifolia Alliance (White alder groves) ....................................................................... 121 Alnus rhombifolia Association ...............................................................................................122 Alnus rhombifolia/Cornus sericea Association......................................................................123 Alnus rhombifolia/Salix exigua(–Rosa californica) Association.............................................124 Alnus rhombifolia–Salix laevigata–Platanus racemosa Association .....................................125 Eucalyptus (globulus, camaldulensis) Semi-Natural Stands (Eucalyptus groves).................... 126 Eucalyptus (globulus, camaldulensis) Stand Type................................................................127 Fraxinus latifolia Alliance (Oregon ash groves) ........................................................................ 128 Fraxinus latifolia Association.................................................................................................129 Fraxinus latifolia–Alnus rhombifolia Association ...................................................................130 Juglans hindsii and Hybrids Special Stands & Semi-Natural Stands (Hinds’s walnut groves) . 131 Juglans hindsii / Herbaceous Provisional Stand Type ..........................................................132 Juniperus californica Alliance (California juniper woodland)..................................................... 133 ii Juniperus californica/Herbaceous Association......................................................................134 Pinus ponderosa Alliance (Ponderosa pine forest)................................................................... 135 Pinus ponderosa/Arctostaphylos viscida Provisional Association.........................................135 Pinus sabiniana Alliance (Ghost pine woodland)...................................................................... 136 Pinus sabiniana/Ceanothus cuneatus–Heteromeles arbutifolia Association ........................138 Pinus sabiniana/Frangula californica ssp. tomentella Provisional Association .....................139 Pinus sabiniana/grass–herb Association ..............................................................................140 Platanus racemosa Alliance (California sycamore woodlands) ................................................ 141 Platanus racemosa(/annual grass) Association....................................................................142 Platanus racemosa–Populus fremontii/Salix lasiolepis Association......................................143 Platanus racemosa–Quercus lobata Association..................................................................145 Populus fremontii Alliance (Fremont cottonwood forest) .......................................................... 146 Populus fremontii Great Valley Association ..........................................................................148 Populus fremontii/Baccharis salicifolia Association...............................................................149 Populus fremontii/Salix exigua Association...........................................................................150 Populus fremontii/Vitis californica Association......................................................................151 Populus fremontii–Acer negundo Association.......................................................................152 Populus fremontii–Salix gooddingii Association....................................................................153 Populus fremontii–Salix laevigata Association......................................................................154 Populus fremontii–Salix lasiolepis Association .....................................................................155 Prosopis pubescens Alliance (Screwbean mesquite bosques) ................................................ 156 Quercus agrifolia Alliance (Coast live oak woodland)............................................................... 157 Quercus chrysolepis Forest Alliance (Canyon live oak forest).................................................