Meadows and Related Marshes

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Marshes are those wetlands dominated by herbaceous vegetation—primarily grasses, sedges, rushes, cat-tails, etc.—growing in soils more or less permanently waterlogged or at state of saturation (ie. soils with water above field capacity most of the time). Vegetation growing on land covered with water permanently not periodically. Vegetation is climax at climatic time-scale; it  is the potential natural wetland vegetation that is in dynamic equilibrium with the determinative factor(s) of habitat be it climate, soils, fire, flood, etc. Marshes have traditionally been divided into two or three categories based on salinity of water: 1.  Freshwater Marsh, 2.  Saltwater Marsh and, sometimes, 3.  Brackish Marsh (for those with mixing of upstream fresh water with saline water from oceans, salt lakes, etc. These categories or general kinds of marshes include several distinctive wetlands with such freshwater marshes as everglades, tule marshes, and borders of oxbow lakes and such saltwater marshes as smooth cordgrass all along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts or tidal marshes in bays. Meadows shown as range cover types are those that conform with definition (2) of the Society for Range Management (Kothmann, 1974; Jacoby, 1989): “Openings in forests and grasslands of exceptional productivity in arid regions, usually resulting from high water of the soil, as in stream-side situations and areas having a perched water table.”       These are of two major or fundamental types:                                                                                                  1.  Wet Meadow- “A meadow where the surface remains wet or moist throughout the summer, usually characterized by sedges and rushes [less commonly by hydrophytic grass species]” and        2.  Dry Meadow- “A meadow dominated by grasses [less commonly bysedges or other grasslike plants adapted to less mesic or hydric conditions] which is characterized by soils which become moderately dry by mid-summer” (Kothmann, 1974; Jacoby, 1989 as [amended by Rosiere herein]). Meadows are defined as more or less natural (comprised of native species) kinds of vegetation (or biotic communities if animals included) or ecosystems irrespective of the use made of them. In other words, as used herein meadows are like grasslands, deserts, forests, tundra, etc. They are biomes (of admittedly small spatial scale) delimited by the predominant growth or life form of vegetation. Meadows, grasslands, savannas, etc. are not —as is range by contrast— a kind of land based on it’s use (eg. any vegetation is by definition range only when it is subject to grazing or browsing). Meadows are meadows whether or not they are grazed or mowed for hay. Meadows become range (rangeland cover types) when used for grazing (or mowing). SRM definition (1) of meadow specified a primary use “for hay production” (ie. hay meadows). Many meadows represented by the vegetation displayed herein do qualify under both definitions, but it is only definition (2) that is applicable as basis of natural vegetation. Otherwise tallgrass prairies used for production of prairie hay— which are hay meadows only — would be meadows. This would be misleading because hay meadows are meadows only by criteria of definition (1) (eg. bluestem prairies can only be hay meadows and they should not be confused with meadows based on soil water criteria). Marshes are some of the most valuable of all wetlands. They are also some of the productive (both ecologically as in Net Primary Productivity and agriculturally as in biomass production for hay, natural pasture, and wildlife habitat). This is especially so for waterfowl (ducks, geese, cranes, herons, plovers, swans, etc.). They are also important breeding grounds for fisheries, including as oyster beds. Marshes include wet meadows (there is not always a clear distinction between wet and dry meadows as some are intermittent or ephemeral wet meadows, especially subalpine mountain meadows). Inland wet meadows on floodplains are one extremely important sources of hay for beef cattle in the Intermountain Region. With careful and conscientious management such native meadow or tule (= bulrush) hay can be produced on flood meadows serving as prime waterfowl habitat.

Note on arrangement: Coastal marshes such as those in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Pacific Coast were included and dealt with in chapters deveoted to grasslands and related herbaceous vegetation associated with those marshes rather than being included in this chapter. For example, the Coastal Prairies and Marshes vegetational zone of Texas and Louisiana form an integral and inseperable unit (at both ecosystem- and landscape-scale) in which fresh, saline, brackish marshes and various types of tallgrass prairie exist as mosaics of range plant communites. These wetland range cover types were not included in the present chapter. In the same vein, playa lakes are some of the most valuable wetlands in North America. Some of these (at least some aquatic zones of them) could be regarded as marshes. These natural wetlands are, however, integral parts of the surrounding mixed (mid-grass) prairie or shortgrass plains, often at levels or degrees of integration that do not exist, say, between mountain meadows and surrounding forests. For that reason playa vegetation was included in chapters devoted to those grasslands and not in the current chapter.

1. Narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia) and American bulrush (Scirpus americanus) marsh surrounded by squirrel bottlebrush and inland saltgrass, which in turn is surrounded by a zone comprised of sideoats grama and little bluestem. Historic Bents Fort to far right, Otero County, Colorado. July.FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh) in middle of K-62 (Bluestem-Gramagrass Prairie). No SRM listing for this cover type (or for any prairie marsh type). A composite of Rush Series and Sedge Series in Plains Interior Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Southwestern Tablelands- Piedmont Plains and Tablelands Ecoregion, 26e (Chapman et al., 2006).

2. Common or broad-leaf cattail (Typha latifolia)- This is one of three Typha species (as commonly interpreted by most authors) found on wetlands of the central grasslands of North America. Along with members of the rush and sedge family (and some minor ones like the burr-reed family) cattails constitute the groups of range plants commonly known as grass-like plants. This group or category of range plants carries no official taxonomic recognition in the lexicon of Plant Systematics, but is used primarily by rangemen and foresters to designate those species of monocots which do not produce flowers with showy or conspicuous petals and yet which are not grasses. These include several orders of monocotyledons. Vascular spore-bearing plants such as the horsetails or scouring rushes (Equisetum spp.) and monocots with obvious petals (eg. the orchids) are classified as forbs by natural resource practitioners like rangemen and wildlifers. foresters. The grasses and grass-like plants are, in turn, known collectively as graminoids. Cattails are some of the most common and conspicuous species of grass-like plants on both marshes and wet microsites on grasslands across North America. Cattails grow not only in natural depressions like potholes and wet draws but also around man-made structures that impond water such as ditches, lakes, sewage lagoons, and farm and ranch ponds such as the one shown here on Kelly or Lone Oak Prairie, Craig County, Oklahoma. June.

3. Inflorescence of common cattail- Cattail gets its common name from its prominent flower cluster composed of distinctly separate groups of staminate and pistillate flowers. The upper structure (seen here as the gray, curved portion) of the inflorescence consist of male flowers and is called the "cattail"; the lower structure (the brown, cylindrical part) of the inflorescence is composed of female flowers known as the "cat".

Subalpine Mountain Meadows or Parklands

4. Sierran Wet Meadow- This is one of several subtypes of  mountain or subalpine  meadows described for the Sierra Nevada Range. This community is even more diverse than that of the preceding photograph. Grasses include northern mannagrass (Glyceria borealis), beardless wildrye (Elymus trichoides), shorthair (Calamagrostis breweri), and the Eurasian hay grass, redtop (Agrostis alba). Wire rush is common. The dominant species away from water’s edge is  mountain meadow sedge (Carex festivella), but others may dominate at micro-site scale. Forest vegetation of background is lodgepole and ponderosa pine. Plumas County, California. Estival aspect, June. No appropriate FRES Number or Kuchler unit. Wet variant of SRM 217 ((Wetlands). Sedge Series in Cascade-Sierran Montane Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Good sources on classification and management of Sierra Nevada mountain meadows include Ratliff (1982), Ratliff (1985), and Ratliff et al. (undated).

5. Mesic Mountain Meadow- This is a moist subalpine meadow situated between the Lower Montane Yellow Pine Forest and sagebrush just above the Mixed Montane Chaparral (see Shrubland slides) in the San Jacinto Range (elevation between 4500-5000 feet). This is a flood meadow (in spring) but it dries out such that it is not permanently inundulated during the growing season. The soil remains moist but dries out enough in the upper profile that it can be grazed without inducing damage to the range. It is botanically rich being dominated by Carex species, epsecially C. senta but also supporting wire rush (Juncus balticus) and such grasses as tufted hairgrass, pine or malpais bluegrass (Poa scabrella), and bentgrass, probably both Hall’s and mountain bentgrass (Agrostis hallii and A. humilis). This community was described by Thorne in Barbour and Major (1995, p. 552). Riverside County, California. July. There is no FRES No. or Kuchler unit for vegetation known variously as mountain meadows, stringer meadows, subalpine meadows, parks, wet or dry meadows. As remarked above, this is one of the most ignored or overlooked communities of all native vegetation. Transverse-Peninsular Ranges variant of SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). An island of Sedge Series in Cascade-Sierran Montane Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998).

6. Mesic subalpine mountain meadow- This moist (but not wet) meadow is dominated by tufted hairgrass and sedges including sheep, Hood's, and ebony sedges (Carex illota, C. hoodii, C. ebena). Squirreltail bottlebrush and spike trisetum (Trisetum spictum) occurred sporadically. Scattered but abundant forbs were limited to composites including mulesear wyethia (Wyethia amplexicaulis), short-beaked or pale agoseris (Agoseris glauca), and arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorrhiza sagittata). Larger mountain meadows are also known as "parks", a term commonly used by stockmen. Willows line a small stream where the cattle are standing. On this cattle allotment graminoids have been grazed whereas forbs have not which creates an aspect such that the range appears in only Fair range condition, but close inspection revealed that grasses and sedges dominated and had not been excessively grazed. Soils of mesic meadows such as this one dry out enough that they can be grazed without damaging the land. The background is Douglas-fir-quaking aspen forest. Shoshone National Forest, Park County, Wyoming. Estival aspect, July. There is neither FRES nor Kuchler unit for mountain meadows. Apparently they are a small enough vegetation mapping unit that they are “lumped” in with surrounding vegetation (Douglas-fir Forest in this case). Mountain meadows in the Rocky Mountains were discussed variously in Barbour and Billings (2000, ps. 109-112) and specifically for this area by Knight (1994, ps. 193-200).  SRM 313 (Tufted Hairgrass-Sedge). Sedge Series in Rocky Mountain Alpine and Subalpine Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Middle Rockies- Absaroka-Gallatin Volcanic Mountains Ecoregion, 17i (Chapman et al., 2003).

7. Subalpine mountain meadow or park- "Park" is a term widely used in mountainous parts that, like such nouns as "cow", "cattle", "man", and "dog", has various meanings and conotations that are place- and situation-dependent. At the large geologic scale, park refers to land forms that are "breaks" (geologic interruptions or basins) in a mountain range or chain of peaks. This is particularily prominent in the Southern Rockys such that in Colorado there are the large and well-known North Park, South Park, and Middle Park as well as the San Luis Valley (which is a park-- in fact, the largest Colorado park--in this meaning even though it does not include the word in it's official designation). These parks tend to be predominantly grassland rather than forest formations, but typically there are also some forest, woodland, shrubland, and even subalpine meadow (= park) formations in the larger parks. (This was a good point at which to use "formation" to show how the term was taken from Geology by plant geographers and applied to Plant Geography and Plant Ecology to mean the broadest, most general unit of vegetation or the vegetation type at largest mapping scale.). At smaller (though still geologic-based) scale, park is used as a synonym for meadow, at least mountain meadow. This usage was applied two sentences above such that there are parks (meadows) within larger parks ( geologic depressions in a mountain range). Some of these meadows have official names that include park as part of that designation. Examples include Horsehoe Park, Moraine Park, and Willow Park in Rocky Mountain National Park, the nearest town to which is Estes Park (Colorado). Sometimes "park" is applied to an opening within an overall forest community or cover type in which case it is synonymous with the more familar "glade". In this usage park has the glade connotation of being "grassy" (or at least herbaceous), but where the park is wet or very moist it may support woody plants like willows, alders, birch, hawthorn, or smaller cottonwoods in which case the park will have a shrub or even scattered tree component. The subalpine mountain meadow or park displayed here is Fall River Horseshoe Park. It was carved by the Fall River Glacier and is an ancient lake basin formed when the terminal moraine acted as a dam of this glacial-scoured U-shaped valley. Here "park" also applies to the valley and, as explained in the preceding paragraph included some woody riparian vegetation. This was barely visible at the far edge of the park where various forest types (Douglas-fir type, ponderosa pine type, up through Englemann spruce-subalpine fir forest) grow in the various Life Zones of the mountains. Within Horseshoe Park there are various vegetational zones with habitats of the various species determined largely by soil water capacity and other edaphic factors. This photograph was taken during the most extreme drought in history of Colorado records (2002) when the meadow was dry for all practical purposes. Of course such periodic droughts may well be one factor (among several) that prevents invasion of the park by trees from the surrounding forest. In this phenomenon and in context of vegetational dynamics, catastrophic events like drought are "blessings in disguise" that maintain the ecological integrity of the vegetation and the structure and function of the ecosystem. Droughts, fires, avalanches, high winds, storms, etc. all fall into this category and are known by ecologists and natural resource practitioners as disturbances. Disturbances typically provide essential restorative roles to ecosystems. This is especially true for those range ecosystems that are seral to the types of climax vegetation that provide little range for grazing and browsing animals. Even in extreme drought the different plant communities of this subalpine mountain meadow can be distinguished by the various colors of the vegetation. For example, the tan-colored zone closest to the stream channel is comprised primarily of Carex species. The adjective "subalpine" is applied to meadows that are below (lower in elevation; farther down the mountain) the meadows of the apline ecosystem (the Alpine Life Zone) which are obviously alpine meadows. Plant communities (determined by species composition and structure of the vegetation) of alpine meadows and subalpine meadows are distinctively different just as are those of the various kinds of forests (Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, Englemann spruce-subalpine fir). Many species are common to some or all of these communities (cover types, ecosystems, biomes; call them as you will), but the different proportions of them and the different physical and chemical (abiotic) factors create different kinds of vegetation. This includes vegetation that is unique in being a combination of different adjoining communities. Such vegetation is designated an ecotone or said to be ecotonal. It is a transition between adjacent plant communities. Small- scale ecotones were visible here in Horseshoe Park. The modifier "mountain" is used to distinguish meadows in mountainous terrain from those on lower land forms such as plains and valleys. Mountain meadows as well as those of river valleys or coastal areas can be classified as wet, mesic, or dry. As remarked previously, some distinctions among meadows, marshes, grasslands, bogs, or fens are arbitrary. Even with precise definitions, designation can legitimately vary among interpretors of different backgrounds, biases, and professions. Rocky Mountain National Park, Larimer County, Colorado. June. FRES No. 37 (Mountain Meadows, listed under Grassland Ecosystems). Not delineated at Kuckler mapping scale. SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Sedge Series in Rocky Mountain Alpine and Subalpine Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Southern Rockies- Crystalline Forests Subalpine Ecoregion, 21b (Chapman et al., 2006).

8. Subalpine mountain meadow- This drainage (part of the greater Colorado River System) has several zones of vegetation primarily determined by cressard (soil water content). Willows and other hydrophytic shrubs form a riparian zone (left and center background) and Douglas-fir forest (far background) developed just beyond the hydric (wet) zone. Both dry and wet forms of mountain meadow were shown in the foreground. Overgrazing (prolongued overuse that resulted in retrogressive vegetational change; known to rangemen and wildlifers as range deterioration) was clearly evident on this game range. Longterm overuse allowed some displacement of native grasses and sedges by exotic species such as Kentucky bluegrass, timothy, and common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Dandelions were conspicuous in the foreground of this overgrazed elk range. Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand County, Colorado. June. FRES No. 37 (Mountain Meadows). No Kuchler unit at this scale. SRM 216 (Montane Meadows, variant of a general cover type designation/description and, thereby, of limited utility here; the SRM did not publish a mountin meadow cover type for the Rocky Mountains). Sedge Series in Rocky Mountain Alpine and Subalpine Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Southern Rockies- Crystalline Forests Subalpine Ecoregion, 21b (Chapman et al., 2006).

9. Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)- Though it caused mental anguish for your author to include this ubiquitous yard weed in a publication devoted to range vegetation he did so recognizing that education ranks aesthetics. (This is one of the 200 species selected for the Master Plant List for the International Range Plant Identification Contest sponsored by the Society for Range Management.) Overgrazing by elk of a subalpine mountain meadow serving as public range in a national park allowed invasion by this weedy Eurasian composite. (If livestock had been forced to abuse a range to this degree a citizenry of city slickers would have justifiably thrown a fecal fit, but somehow exceptions seem to be made when wildife are compelled through human mismanagement to do the same thing.) The common dandelion is one of the most widespread weeds on Earth. It is most common on turf mismanaged by overcropping. That includes overgrazed mountain meadows (especially at subalpine zones) the same as overmowed yards. Taraxacum species (there are three native ones in Rocky Mountain National Park) are in the Liguliflorae of the Compositae, the subfamily whose members exude a milky latex in the sap. The fruit of dandelion is an achene (dry, single-seeded, indehiscent fruit with pericarp and seed coat separate) with a pappus (a modified calyx) attached to it that very effectively disseminates the propagule. This entire structure is attached to the central receptacle (the rounded, expanded top of the "flower stalk"). Ottawa County, Oklahoma. March.

10. Wet subalpine mountain meadow- The sedge meadow seen in these two views was farther down the Kawuneeche Valley (lower elevation) from the overgrazed upper end of the watershed shown in the preceding landscape photograph. In the current photo-plot there was very limited grazing of the meadow range and plants had developed with little utilization. The dominant-- almost exclusive-- species was beaked sedge (Carex rostrata): a beaked sedge consociation. The closest thing to an associate species (it was more like a rarity) was bluejoint or Canada reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis). Bluejoint was in full-flower, but the beak sedge was in pre-bloom stage. The low shrub seen in the second view was shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa= Dasiphora fruticosa= Pentaphylloides floribunda). Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand County, Colorado. June. FRES No. 37 (Mountain Meadows, listed under Grassland Ecosystem). No Kuchler units at this spatial or mapping scale. SRM 216 (Montane Meadows, a general cover type designation, hence of limited value; no meadow meadow cover types given for the Rocky Mountains). Sedge Series in Rocky Mountain Alpine and Subalpine Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Southern Rockies- Crystalline Forests Subalpine Ecoregion, 21b (Chapman et al., 2006).

More mesic or hydric "spots" (whether different range sites or simply local microsites was a call beyond this author) in this same park or valley were dominated by willows (Salix brachycarpa, S. plantifolia) growing on the beaked sedge meadow more as a savanna than as a willow thicket or carr. For consistency of presentation, slides of this Salix-Carex savanna or shrubland vegetation were included under the Willow heading of Shrublands. The ecological status of these willows on a wet subalpine meadow meadow was unknown (and would probably always be arbitrary and arguable). Given the inclusion of meadows under the Grasslands and the fact that willow-dominated vegetation is shrubland it seemed most logical to keep the "willers" in one place. Vegetation is like these computer software programs (eg. Dream Weaver, Microsoft) with their factory installed glitches: it has a mind of it's own. Viewers wishing to follow the "flow" of vegetation down this mountain (Kawuneeche) valley should now get on the "mix-master" table of contents, take the Shrublands exit, and stay on it until the Willows turnoff is reached.

11. Bluejoint or Canada reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis)- This member of the Aveneae or oat tribe is one of the more important forage-producing grasses in moist and northern range habitats. Its range extends from Atlanic to Pacific Coasts. It occurs in all of the Prairie Provinces, all of the 11 Western Range States, and all of the 17 Western Range States except Oklahoma and Texas. It is a very important range grass in Alaska where it has it's own rangeland cover type designation and description: SRM 905. Forage value of bluejoint or marsh reedgrass is fair to good, but quantity is outstanding this typically being the major producer on sites and types where it occurs (ie. it tends to be the dominant species where it is found). Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand County, Colorado. June.

12. Mesic subalpine meadow or parkland - Some of the most botanically diverse and lushest mountain meadows are those of the Olympic Mountains in the precipitation-drenched Olympic Peninsula. Franklin and Dyrness (1973, ps. 250-264) described several of thse subalpine herb communities. Many of these subalpine parklands occur immediately adjacent to timberline communities that range from forests of large trees down to krumholtz scrub vegetation. Often woody and herbaceous range communities developed in an intermixed patchwork-like pattern. In other locations subalpine meadows are of substantial "field"-size such as the one shown here. This large, picturesque meadow was characteristic of the sedge meadow community. There were numerous species of forbs and grasses (as shown below), but showy sedge (Carex spectabilis) was the dominant parkland species. This was an example of the "lush herbaceous" community known also as the "Tall Sedge" type (Franklin and Dyrness, 1973, p. 258). Soils of this site were generally well-drained yet mesic as result of generally heavy precipitation and cooler temperatures at the relatively high elevation (over 5200 feet). Species present included: C. spectabilis, Juncus drummondii, J. mertensianus, Festuca viridula, Phleum alpinum, Stipa comata, Sitanion hystrix, Bistorta bistortoides, Erythionium grandiflorum, Allium crenulatum, Lupinus latifolius var. subalpinus, Geum triflorum, Artemesia trifurca, Achillea millefolium subalpina, Cirsium edule, Agroseris grandiflora, and Eriogonum ovalifolium among others. Several of these species were presented below. Subalpine tree communities dominated by subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) surrounded the margins of this meadow that was technically below timberline. Like the other subalpine meadows presented in this section this range plant community was included with the grassland vegetation and cover types (even when grasslike plants such as Carex and Juncus species and not grasses were community dominants). These subalpine meadows were treated separately from true alpine communities although certain local plant communities in alpine ecosystems resembled subalpine parklands in physiognomy, structure, and species composition. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June. FRES No. 37 ( Mountain Meadows, listed under Grassland Ecosystems). Kuchler-45 (Alpine Meadows and Barren; Agrostis, Carex, Festuca, Poa). SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Mixed Bunchgrass Series within Cascade-Sierran Alpine and Subalpine Grassland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Showy sedge meadow association of Kagan et al. (2004). North Cascades-High Olympics Ecoregion, 77i (Pater et al., undated).

13. Edge effect- Juncture of subalpine forest and subalpine meadow created the well-known "edge effect" so favorable to many wildlife species, Columbia black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) in this example. The subalpine meadow was subject of interest in this section with the subalpine forest being treated separately under Forests (Sierra, Cascade and Coast Ranges). It was pointed out to viewers at this point however that the ecotone between forest (or perhaps more aptly described as woodland) was extraordinarily narrow, if in fact an ecotone existed at all. The stunted, dwarfish aubalpine fir that had slowly invaded the meadow constituted this transition zone as if a tug-of-war was ongoing between these communities (biomes for that matter). Meadow species were listed in preceding caption. Many were shown in photographs below. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. Elevation over 5200 feet. June. Classification of subalpine parkland: FRES No. 37 (Montane Meadows, under Grassland Ecosystems), Kuchler-45 (Alpine Meadows and Barren; Agrostis, Carex, Festuca, Poa), SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Mixed Bunchgrass Series within Cascade-Sierran Alpine and Subalpine Grassland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Showy sedge meadow association of Kagan et al. (2004). North Cascades-High Olympics Ecoregion, 77i (Pater et al., undated).

14. Range community of Olympic Mountains subalpine parkland- In this photo-plot of a subalpine mountain meadow the dominant species, showy sedge, was featured prominently as it was "accompanied" by local associate, Arctic or subalpine lupine (Lupinus latifolius subalpinus). Other species present included alpine timothy (Phleum alpinum), Merten's rugh (Juncus mertensianus) and greenleaf fescue (Festuca viridula). Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. Elevation above 5200. June. FRES No. 37 (Montane Meadows). Kuchler45 (Alpine Meadows and Barren). SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Mixed Bunchgrass Series within Cascade-Sierran Alpine and Subalpine Grassland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Showy sedge meadow association of Kagan et al. (2004). North Cascades-High Olympics Ecoregion, 77i (Pater et al., undated).

15. Turf (sward) of mesic subalpine mountain meadow in Olympic Peninsula- Photo-plot of graminoid community of subalpine parkland in Olympic Mountains. Dominant species was showy sedge with Merten's sedge, Drummonds sedge (Carex drummondii), alpine timothy, and greenleaf fescue well-represented. This was the Tall Sedge cover type or community (Franklin and Dyrness, 1973, p. 258). The main body of this community, the typical botanical expression of Tall Sedge or Showy Sedge vegetation, was graminoid with a turf-like physiognomy. Forbs other than subalpine lupine were very limited. Along edges of such subalpine meadows there where subalpine tree (or scrub-tree) communities of subalpine fir and, often, mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana). Where woody vegetation adjoined subalpine meadows there were numerous forbs. Several of these were included below. Evidence of grazing (most likely by Columbia black-tailed deer; two slides immediately above) was conspicuous. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. Elevation above 5200. June. FRES No. 37 (Montane Meadows). Kuchler 45 (Alpine Meadows and Barren). SRM 216 (montane Meadows). Mixed Bunchgrass Series within Cascade-Sierran Alpine and Subalpine Grassland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Showy sedge meadow association of Kagan et al. (2004). North Cascades-High Olympics Ecoregion, 77i (Pater et al., undated).

The species richness of subalpine meadows in the Olympic Mountains rivaled their aesthetic quality and was one of the factors contributing to the beauty of this landscape. Common plants observed on a subalpine mountain meadow and it's ecotone with subalpine woody vegetation followed. Vegetation was at, or close to, peak standing crop in the early estival aspect. Elevation was 5200-5300 feet.

16. Showy sedge (Carex spectabilis)- The dominant species of one of the subalpine mountain meadow communities or types in the Pacific Northwest (Franklin and Dyrness, 1973, ps. 258-259). At anthesis phenological stage.

17. Drummond rush (Juncus drummondii)- Center plant with dead prostrate shoots was Drummond rush. Flower of Drummond rush in anthesis in second slide. Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

18. Merten's rush (Juncus mertensianus)- Colony of Merten's rush at edge of subalpine fir community. Inflorescence was in immediate post-bloom stage. Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

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19. Greenleaf fescue (Festuca viridula)- This locally common associate species of subalpine parklands was growing at the edge of such a meadow in the Olympic Mountains. An inflorescence of alpine timothy in anthesis was growing at base of the fescue. A young inflorescence (panicle) of greenleaf fescue had just emerged from the boot as shown in the second photograph. Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

20. Alpine timothy (Phleum alpinum)- Whole shoots and inflorescence of alpine tomothy in anthesis. The panicle of timothy species is a contracted panicle. These particular plants were growing together with greenleaf fescue, showy sedge, and several speciesof forbs including the next two presented. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

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21. Three-forked sagewort (Artemesia trifurcata)- The herbaceous member of the huge sagebrush group was growing beside the greenleaf fescue and alpine timothy shown in the preceding four slides. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

22. Indian or Cayuse thistle (Cirsium edule)- This native thistle is far from a weed, but it is sometimes common in disturbed areas like clearings or road rights-of-way. It is common in low moist areas of subalpine meadows. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

23. Bigflower mountain-dandelion (Agoseris grandiflora)- Mountain-dandelion is an apt name as this species is in the Liguliflorae subfamily that includes the lettuces and true dandelions and whose members secrete a milky latex in the sap and possess only ligulate, strap-shaped, ray flowers in the inflorescence head. Big Meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

24. Threadleaf sandwort (Arenaria capillaris)- Whole plant and flowering shoots of threadleaf sandwort at edge of subalpine parkland adjacent to rocky slope. Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June,

25. Narrow-sepaled phacelia (Phacelia leptosepala= P. hastata var. leptosepala)- Photographs of whole plant and flowering shoot of one of several species of Phacelia species that are notable Western Range forbs. This specimen was growing beside three-forked sagewort and showy sedge. Subalpine meadow, Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

26. Few-flowered or Martindale's biscuit-root or desert parsley (Lomatium martindalei)- This species is more common on drier sites of subalpine mountain meadows. This individual grew in association with threadleaf sandwort and greenleaf fescue on a dry, rocky south slope. Subalpine mountain meadow (elevation about 5300 feet), Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

27. Pink plume, lions beard, or prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)- This forb represented the rose family on a rocky slope where it grew with threadleaf sandwort, Martindale's biscuit-root, three-forked sagewort, and greenleaf fescue. Subalpine parkland (about 5300 feet elevation). Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

28. Broadleaf lupine generally, but at variety level alpine or Arctic lupine (Lupinus latifolius var. subalpinus)- This papilionaceous legume was the major forb on the main body of a subalpine mountain meadow where it formed a local associate with the dominant showy sedge. There are some sites where alpine lupine is co-dominant with showy sedge (Franklin and Dyrness, 1973, p. 259). In the Olympic Mountains (elevation was about 5300 feet), Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

29. Scalloped onion (Allium crenulatum)- This attractive member of the lily family grew on some of the drier, shallower sites of subalpine mountain meadows where it was associated with few-flowered or Martindale's biscuit-root and threadleaf sandwort. Olympic Mountain (5300 feet elevtion), Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington. June.

30. Wire rush meadow- This subalpine wet meadow was dominated by Baltic or wire rush (Juncus balticus). The associate plant was the limited component of Carex species. Individual plants of the introduced grasses, Kentucky bluegrass and timothy, were found as rarieties. The only forb was Missouri blueflag or the Rocky Mountain iris (Iris missouriensis). This was a consociation of wire rush. The brown patches were dead shoots of Juncus and not separate species like Carex or Poa (photograph taken during the most extreme drought in any one year since weather records began in Colorado). North Park, Jackson County, Colorado. June. FRES No. 37 (Mountain Meadows). No Kuchler unit at this spatial scale.SRM 216 (Montane Meadows, variant of a cover type much too general to be of much specific use). Rush Series in Rocky Mountain Alpine and Subalpine Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Southern Rockies- Sagebrush Parks Ecoregion, 21i (Chapman et al., 2006).

31. Missouri or Rocky Mountain iris or wild blueflag (Iris missouriensis)- There is a rather large number of Iris species native to North America. In Notes on Western Range Forbs, Dayton (1960, p.56-59) listed 15 species for the "western range area" with 12 of these limited to the "Pacific region". Dayton (1960, p. 57) concluded that the Rocky Mountain iris was easily the most common and widely distributed of these western species. Given that several beautiful specimens were unstoppable by the driest year on record and were growing and blooming profusely on the wire rush meadow presented immediately above, this seemed a good place to present this range beauty for students' viewing pleasure. North Park, Jackson County, Colorado. June.

Lower Montane Meadows

32. Dry Mountain (= Subalpine) Meadow- This is a Northern Rocky Mountain (= Petran) xeric subalpine mountain meadow dominated almost exclusively by tufted hairgrass (a consociation of that species). There are some Carex as well as Poa species but they are incidental. This depression fills with melt water early in the season but soon dries to the xeric state in contrast to the hydric and mesic states of wet and moist meadows seen in the previous slides. No appropriate FRES Number or Kuchler Unit. SRM 313 (Tufted Hairgrass-Sedge ). Not a specific designation in Brown et al. (1998), but could be interpreted as Mixed Meadow Series in Rocky Mountain Montane Grassland biotic community. Middle Rockies- Yellowstone Plateau Ecoregion, 17j (Chapman et al.).

33. Tufted hairgrass- This distinctive cespitose grass is a dominant species on such range types as alpine rangeland (SRM 410), subalpine mountain meadows (eg. SRM 313, tufted hairgrass-sedge), California coastal prairie (SRM 214), and tundra meadows (eg. SRM 910, tundra hairgrass).

Flood Meadows and Marshes

The section below included kinds of range vegetation comprised of grasses and/or grasslike plants that develop on wet soil and make up herbaceous wetlands. Some of these range plant communities develop on land the surface of which is covered by water yearlong (or at least a good part of the year or plant growing season) and whose subsurface usually stays perpetually moist to wet. These yearlong wet or, at least, moist wetlands are marshes. A similar yet different category or kind of herbaceous wetland is that on which range plant communities have standing water or are wet on the soil surface only seasonally or, often, only during part of a season (eg. land surface inundated only in early to mid-spring, land flooded primarily in winter). The latter wetlands have traditionally been called flood meadows though many of them consist of the same plant species as marshes, the more obvious form of herbaceous wetlands. Marshes can be wet due to flooding that resulted from overland flow (surface runoff) of water, especially streams overflowing their banks. Marshes can also form on rangeland that is not flooded by flowing water per se but instead has standing surface water due to poorly drained soils. Some people regard both of these conditions as flooding whereas others would limit the term "flooding" to inundation of land by water from streams. By some criteria or definitions many or most marshes are not flooded, hence this wetland vegetation cannot be regarded as flood meadows (say, those that do not occupy flood plains). Some (or maybe most) marshes are not even meadows. Similarly, not all flood meadows are wetlands, at least not yearlong. Synopsis: wet meadows and marshes sometimes have been regarded as different kinds or categories of herbaceous rangeland. Both categories of groups--assuming they are different enough to be distinguished-- of range cover types were included in this section.

34. Intermountain flood meadow- An intermountain flood meadow that by summer will become a mesic or even dry meadow supporting members of all three major grasslike forage families: Typhaceae, Juncaeae, and Cyperaceae. In the foreground of uncut vegetation beginning at right is common or narrowleaf cattail (Typha domingensis = T. angustifolia var. domingensis). Broadleaf or common cattail (T. latifolia) also occurs on this meadow but cannot be seen from this angle. Background vegetation is dominated by soft-stem bulrush (Scirpus validus), but hardstem bulrush (S. acutus) and common three square (S. pungens) are also common on flood meadows of the area. Each of these Scirpus species was assigned to its own series by Montana Natural Heritage Program (1988). Bulrushes are commonly called tules in this part of the country. Hence this is a tule marsh. Beneath the more open areas of tules or in patches among them are sedges and wire rush (Juncus balticus) and toad rush (J. bufonius). Sedges include blackcreeper sedge (Carex praegracilis), slender or wool-fruit sedge (C. lasiocarpa), and slenderbeaked sedge (C. athrostachya). Giant burreed (Sparaganium eurycarpum) is also present behind the tules. The rank overly mature herbage shown here is not very palatable even to cattle (not to mention small ruminants or horses). Cattails are the lowest of all in forage value, which is why they have been left where possible. Cows have to be cold and hungry before they will readily eat coarse flood meadow hay except for that which is mostly inland saltgrass. Otherwise they just lay in it. Most flood meadows are valuable as habitat for migratory waterfowl and leaving patches of unmowed tules andcattails is desirable.  Bear Lake Valley, Franklin County, Idaho. Estival aspect, July. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem), K-42 (Tule Marshes).   There is no SRM designation for tule marsh (or any wetland for that matter except riparian vegetation) in Great Basic Cover Types. This is a common situation— in fact, more often than not —for meadows in general and specifically for flood meadows. They are simply not described, usually not even recognized with a name or number. This is most remarkable given the current general interest in wetlands and the central importance of these flood meadows in ranching and public land law as will now be explained.  This wetland is an example of a vegetation cover type and a land use characteristic of the northern Intermountain Region, especially the Interior Northwest. A natural broad meadow flooded in the spring with melt water from surrounding hills supports aquatic graminoid plants such that it is utilized for hay. The hay was traditionally put up in haystacks which were then fenced and cattle were wintered on the meadows or "stackyards". When cattle were moved off the flood meadows (which are dry summer through winter) to spring range, fences are removed (and fencing material stored for the next year) and the dung was scattered with tractor-(rarely, horse)-drawn drags before the meadows are flooded by spring run-off of snow melt from the hills. Runoff also goes into rivers and lakes. Some of this spills over as overflow water and is used directly on the flood meadows. In addition, some of the river and lake water is also used by ranchers according to their water rights. There may be an irrigation district with a “water master” used to regulate this water through a series of ditches, cannels, and outlets. The water master is “the law”, the legal official who apportions the water according to water rights by the “Colorado” or “California” Doctrine of Prior Appropriation. In the Seventeen Western Range States that begin with the tier of Great Plains States and extend to the Pacific, the Anglo Saxon and "eastern states". Riparian Doctrine was superceded by that of Prior Appropriateion developed by miners. This allows water rights such that water becomes private property just like land. In fact, in semiarid and arid regions water rights and water as private property is more important  than land ownership because much of such land is useless for farming or even ranching without surface water.  Water is part of commensurate base property, the basis for allocation of grazing privileges on state and federal lands (public range). The principle of commensurability means that a livestock owner can “run” (graze) on public range only the number of animal units (measured as animal unit months of forage) for which he can produce feed from his private property to support during the non-grazing season. Due to the all-determining role of water rights (water ownership) the Taylor Grazing Act, which authorized the Bureau of Land Management (United States Department of Interior) to regulate and manage grazing on the former Publci Domain, can administer range allotments based on water rather than on land (ie. water not land is the base property). It is hay meadows (and the water to flood them) like the one seen here that constitute the actual base property (ie. that are the basis of grazing privileges). This insured that the principle of priority (“first in time, first in rights”) was preserved.  When a ranch with a BLM or Forest Service grazing permit or allotment sells the priority typically passes with the property. Thus real estate value of the ranch includes the grazing privilege on the public land as well as private property. This is why ranch owners could afford to invest some of their money and labor for improvement and development of public range to which they held the grazing privilege. If the rancher who held the grazing privilege (and made such investments) lost his privilege or, more commonly, had to cut the number of head he could run on the allotment or turn out later in spring or take off stock earlier in fall (ie. he could buy fewer animal units months of feed) this reduced returns to his capital investment.  The "back gate swings both ways". Private investment could also benefit the public because things like water development increase carrying capacity for wildlife on public land, land to which the tax-paying public has free access. Perhaps even more importantly, feed such as hay grown on flood meadows benefits native ruminants like mule deer and elk. The importance of flood meadows as nesting and stop-over habitat for migratory waterfowl cannot be overemphasized. By tying grazing privileges to base property (ie. preserving the principles of priority and commensurability), rather than an alternative form of allocation such as competitive sealed bidding, the owner of private property is encouraged to care for, improve, and efficiently use his private property of land and water. This partnership fosters greater conservation of natural resources, lends economic stability to local communities and, especially, stabilizes the livestock industries.  Private property of water can be separate from that of land. A land and water owner can sell both or one without the other. For example, cities along the Front Range in Colorado have purchased water rights from farmers and ranchers living at considerable distances from the city limits. This may force land owners to convert cropland back to range. Or it may compel them to sell land and water for suburban land development, that cancerous scourge of God’s creation. Likewise, if governmental policy— for whatever reason(s) —make it unfeasible or impossible for ranchers to continue to live their chosen way of life they have forced on them the imperative to sell and move off the land. The most readily buyer is often a land developer such that the fomer ranch, “natural area”, and wildlife habitat is turned into another damnable subdivision.  This is even worse than would first appear due to the usual land (and water) ownership pattern. Scarcity of water, the life blood of existence, in the West forced the first European occupants to acquire title to and settle on land along creeks, rivers, lakes, etc. which had access to water adequate for domestic, livestock, mining, and irrigation use. The remaining Public Domain was useful mostly for watershed and grazing (some lumbering) in the case of National Forests and for the most extensively managed grazing in what eventually became land administered by Bureau of Land Management. In this way the more level, best watered land having the “highest and best” economic use, the land with the greatest capability for all uses, became private property. The land nobody but timber thieves, prospectors, and free-range stockmen wanted (could use) became public land, often public land without the water rights.   If public land ranchers, the owners of the water and the “prime” watered land, are forced off of public range by urban, environmentalist voters ranchers have the economic incentive to sell their property so as to ruin it for the very purposes for which they were presumedly driven off the public land. (By the way, these urban voters become environmentalists wishing to “preserve nature” after they got their lot in surburbia with the “ranch-style” two-car garage house and three tomato plants— and before the divorce. Their surburban lot was, of course, taken out of “nature” or at least an orchard or “cow pasture”, but that was before IGM or I Got Mine.)  This lesson was learned, belatedly and more or less begrudgingly, by such glossy magazine organizations as the Sierra Club. Welcome to the club, clubbers.

35. Intermountain flood meadow, a tule marsh, used for hay production- Detailed view of the populations of species of grasslike plants that make up the flood hay meadow seen in the preceding slide and the following one. The various species of bulrushes (= tules), sedges, rushes, cattails, and grasses that comprise this diverse flood meadow community often grow in patches or large spots of single-species stands due to asexual reproduction by tough mats of rhizomes in the grasslike plants or stolons in grasses like inland saltgrass. Species seen include many of those given under the last photograph including: narrowleaf cattail (immediate foreground), soft-stem and hard-stem bullrushes, known generically as tules, (the dull, dark green patch immediately behind the cattail colony), and mixed species stands of slenderbeaked, blackcreeper, and wool-fruit sedges in with inland, interior, or desert saltgrass (Distichlis stricta= D. spicata var. stricta). Giant burreed is interspersed among the tules. Bear Lake Valley, Franklin County, Idaho. Estival aspect, July. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem), K-42 (Tule Marshes). Sedge Series in Great Basin Interior Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Wyoming Basin- Wet Valleys Ecoregion, 18c (McGrath et al. 2001).

36. Mowed and windrowed hay on a tule marsh- Herbage from Carex, Scirpus, Typha, Juncus, and Distichlis species being put up as hay for cattle. This is often the heart of base property and just one more example of the priceless value of water in the West. It also underscores the importance of quality watershed for snow storage that yields melt water for irrigation of flood meadows like this one. This hay grower is trying to retain as much of the nutritive value of the feed as possible by baling and storing the hay bales where they will not lose feed value by water damage. Traditionally marsh hay was put up in loose stacks and fed out by team or, later, tractor and wagon.  This is designated as marsh hay in contrast to the better quality Intermountain grass hay designated as meadow hay.  Hay from tallgrass prairie made up largely of big bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, and prairie dropseed is of course prairie hay. Marsh hay is generally of the lowest palatabality, hence nutritive value. According to feed compostion tables (Subcommittee of Feed Composition, 1971) all three as well as cattail hay and bulrush hay are roughly equivalent (eg. about 5.8% Crude Protein and 44-48% Total Digestible Nutrients. (The secret to this kind of hay is getting them to eat it, which is where the art of animal husbandry comes in.) "Beats a snowbank". Bear Lake Valley, Franklin County, Idaho. July. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem), K-42 (Tule Marshes). No SRM. Sedge Series in Great Basin Interior Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Wyoming Basin- Wet Valleys Ecoregion, 18c (McGrath et al. 2001).

37. Oasis on a grand scale- Landscape view of Malheur (from Malheur Lake) or Blitzen (from Donner and Blitzen River) Marsh, a freshwater marsh in Oregon (Harney) High Desert. This wetland has the enviable record as being the largest fresh-water wetland in North America west of the Mississippi River. Smack in the middle of the sagebrush shrub steppe (foreground) in the High Lava Plains province of central and southeastern Oregon is the natural wetland formed by Malheur Lake supplied by the Donner and Blitzen River. There were several different range plant communities of smaller and varrying spatial scale within the total wetland or marsh community. An example of this arrangement of smaller communities within larger communities in a bulrush marsh was presented by Brown et al. (1998, Figure 1, p. 6). This wetland has been modified somewhat by irrigation works (note ditch in foreground immediately behind the edge of sagebrush shrub steppe) and serves as a national wildlife refuge while still providing many Animal Unit Months of livestock (cattle) grazing plus hay meadows as well as serving as a critical wildlife sactuary, especially for migratory waterfowl. Several slides were presented below to provide representative samples of wetland range vegetation typical in species composition, structure, and function to other (though smaller) marshes scattered throughout the North American Intermountain West. Some of these wetlands are freshwater marshes and some are saline or alkali marshes, but they are similar to the "crown jewel" marsh featured here. Several of these wetland communities were part of Malheur or Blitzen Marsh. A very informal and delightful account of the role that Blitzen Marsh played in economic development and cultural history of the Oregon High Desert can be found in the classic history, Harney County Oregon, and Its Range Land (Brimlow, 1951). Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wetland Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marshes). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

38. Shown below were five photographs of the freshwater Malheur or Blitzen Marsh. This immense Intermountain wetland consisted of various local communities varying slightly from each primarily in species composition but also somewhat in community structure due to varying quantities and quality of surface and soil water as well as factors such as numerous edaphic features (eg. soil salinity, depth, texture, slope). Photographs were taken in a early summer (June) in a year of typical moisture conditions (ie. "an average year").

General view of an Intermountain freshwater marsh- This view of wetland range vegetation was from an edge of Malheur Marsh looking across this large wetland at landscape scale. There was a local range community dominated by various sedges (Carex spp.) and spikerushes (Eleocharis spp.) in the foreground. A second community dominated by inland saltgrass (Distichlis stricta) occupied the midground, behind which was a typical tule marsh community. Tule (bulrush) marsh is the most common descriptive name of the major community or form of many Intermountain marshes and wet meadows, but within this general or defining community there are various other communities, some of which are of smaller or even local scale. Examples of these latter plant communities include cattail stands or pond vegetation. There is considerable variation even with the overall tule community there being nine species of Scirpus that call Blitzen Marsh their home. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh). Variant forms of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Sedge Series of either Oregonian Interior Marshland or, more likely, Great Basin Interior Marshland (Brown et al. 1998) in foreground. Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

Composite view of plant species in a large freshwater marsh- At far right to almost mid- foreground was white cattail (Typha xglauca) that was considerably smaller than most others as it was at extreme edge of adequate water level. To right and occupying rest of foreground was inland saltgrass. Scattered individuals of bulrush grew in the midground. Background consisted largely of a cattail community that appeared to have such amounts of undecayed Typha remains from previous growing seasons that it was being "shaded-out" (shading itself out). Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Portions of several associations were visible here including that of the narrow-leaved cattail-broad-leaved cattail (far right foreground and midground) and hardstem bulrush (background) of Kagan et al. (2004). Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

Plant community of an Intermountain freshwater marsh- One of the more common range plant communities in Malheur Marsh was one consisting of tules (bulrushes) with an outer drier zone dominated by the much lower-growing spike rushes with various carices as associates. Tules often form dense consociations or single-species stands that relegate other species to their perimeter. Dominant bulrush here was the one known variously as great tule, great or giant bulrush, or hardstem bulrush (Scirpus acutus). Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Sedge Series of either Oregon Interior Marshland or, more likely, Great Basin Interior Marshland of Brown et al. (1998). Overall range plant community was the hardstem bulrush association of Kagan et al. (2004) with the binomial, Schoenoplectus acutus, used for great tule, giant bulrush, or hardstem bulrush. Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

Stand of white cattail locally dominant (exclusively so) in an Intermountain freshwater marsh- Vegetation in this part of Blitzen Marsh consisted of a colony or single-species stand of white cattail in standing fresh water. To the extreme right and extending to background was a stand of giant tule in full-bloom. Throughout most Intermountain wetlands cattails frequently comprise the local vegetation to exclusion of other plant species (as do other rank-growing marsh species like the bulrushes) Recent taxonomic treatments of the cattail shown here interpreted it as a hybrid between Typha angustiflolia and T. latifolia with the species designation of Typha xglauca. Older interpretations recognized only the two above species plus T. domingensis, but it is now recognized that all North American Typha species hybridize. Malheur National Wildlife refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K042 (Tule Marsh). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Narrow- leaved cattail-broad-leaved cattail marsh association of Kagan et al. (2004). Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

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Pond-like plant community in Intermountain freshwater marsh- A diverse range plant community was growing on this local deeper-water site in Malheur Marsh. In addition to white cattail, great tule, and several species of Carex and Eleocharis yellow water buttercup (Ranunculus flabellaris) was thriving in this backwater of the Donner and Blitzen River.(Buttercup was the yellow-colored floating material in right-center midground.) In the middle of the Oregon High Desert not far from malpais range communities and halophytic desert scrub such aquatic species as water buttercup were thriving. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). No single association designation could be applied handily, but hardstem bulrush marsh association of Kagan et al. (2004), with Schoenoplectus acutus used as the binomial for giant bulrush, great tule, or hardstem bulrush, was the most appropriate for the overall range plant community. Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

39. Stand of great bulrush (= great tule or giant tule or hardstem bulrush)- This was an example of the way Intermountain marshes are seen and remembered by many visitors to this marvelously productive and critically important range ecosystem. This is an exclusive single-species stand of great bulrush (Scirpus acutus= Schoenoplectus acutus). The shoots of this rhizomatous species frequently form such dense vegetation that other vascular plants can grow only "along the edges" of the tules. These shoots were in anthesis. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June. Estival aspect. FRES No. 41 (Wetland Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marsh). Variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Hardstem bulrush marsh association of Kagan et al. (2004) in which Schoenoplectus acutus was used for Scirpus acutus. Northern Basin and Range- High Desert Wetlands Ecoregion, 80c (Thorson et al., 2003).

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40. Inflorescences of giant bulrush (Scirpus acutus)- This "giant" tule can be readily identified by the fool-proof feature of a subtending bract that extends above (higher than) the flower cluster to appear as if it were the tip of the shoot. Anthesis. Over the years this species has had numerous scientific names including Schoenoplectus acutus which aqs of this writing was the "latest fashion" binomial. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon. June.

41. What water hath wrought- Source end of a tule (Scirpus spp.) marsh (brackish to saline) that developed on upper reach of a brook-like drainage that had formed by a combination of fresh water from surface runoff of a mountain range and salt water inflowing from Great Salt Lake. At this upper elevation of the brackish or salt (whichever) marsh the bulrush or tule, common threesquare (S. pungens), was the sole aquatic range plant. Grass (mostly dormant and light tan-color) in the foreground was desert saltgrass (Distichlis stricta= D. spicata var. stricta= D. spicata). Desert saltgrass and Utah samphire (Salicornia utahensis) formed a semidesert grassland immediately adjacent to the marsh. Foreground vegetation was the marsh-end of this semidesert grassland, the treatment of which was in the chapter, Semidesert Grassland (Great Basin). Vegetation in background was on terminus of an alluvial fan from the mountain range. Background vegetation was a form of Great Basin Desert composed mostly of black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) and viscid or Douglas rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidflorus). Tooele County, Utah. June, threesquare bulrush was in anthesis.

42. Rangeman's oasis in a salt desert - A tule marsh of common threesquare or threesquare bulrush formed a consociation that was a brackish or saline marsh comprised of salt water inflowing from Great Salt Lake and some fresh water (both snowmelt and surface runoff of rain) from the neighboring mountain range. In local areas common reed (Phragmites australis= A. communis) formed colonies that, in lingo of Landscape Ecology, were patches in a matrix of threesquare tule. A colony or patch of common reed was conspicuous in the second slide (right foreground). This colony of common reed was featured in the next slide. Marshes such as this one that develop in deserts are "meccas" for wildlife. These range wetlands are especially critical to birds such as passerines (perching birds of small to medium size whose with feet are capable of grasping due to the backward- directed first toe) like redwing blackbird (Agelaius pnoeniceus). Obviously marshes are critical habitat for waterfowl (ducks, geese, wading or shore birds). Herbaceous-vegetation wetlands in deserts provide unique habitats for numerous rodents (and whatever critters feed on them). Forage value of these brackish or saline marshes for livestock and big game was obvious, especially for hay (as was elaborated on above). Pale-green grass in foreground of both slides was the end of a desert saltgrass-Utah samphire semidesert grassland. (This was covered in Semidesert Grassland, Great Basin, chapter.) Tooele County, Utah. June, anthesis for threesquare tule. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem). K-42 (Tule Marshes). Scirpus pungens Alliance (Bourgeron et al., 1994, 29 August, 1994). No SRM rangeland cover type for Great Basin Wetlands: would have to be Great Basin variant of SRM 217 (Wetlands). Great Basin Interior Marshland 242.4 of Brown et al. (1998, 45) who somehow left out what should be Bulrush Series (for tule marsh) and Saltgrass Series (for perimeter of marsh).Central Basin and Range- Salt Deserts Ecoregion, 13a (Woods et al., 2001).

43. A contrast in grass- The colony of common reed introduced in the immediately preceding slide was featured in this photograph. This colony was surrounded by threesquare bulrush on three sides and along one side by a population of desert saltgrass that was the edge of a saltgrass-dominated semidesert grassland. Common reed produces viable grain (note last year's panicles), but undoubtedly most local reproduction is asexual by the abundant rhizomes and stolons of this thicket-producing, native festucoid grass. Common reed has traditionally been regarded as being the most widely distributed angiosperm on Earth. In fact, of all vascular plants it is probable that only bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) has a greater geographic range than common reed. Tooele County, Utah. June; mid-growth stage of common reed, hard-dough stage of saltgrass. Part of the brackish (or salt) marsh units cited in immediately preceding caption.

44. Just tulin' around- View of a stand of common threesquare. This tule or bulrush forms nearly exclusive marshs in the salt desert shrub surrounding Great Salt Lake. These herbacaeous, aquatic, range plant communities are comprised almost entirely of dense populations of shoots of this strongly rhizomatous species. Tooele County, Utah. June, anthesis in threesquare.

45. Three tips of threesquare (Scirpus pungens)- Threesquare is the most common and widely distributed tule or bulrush in marshes around Great Salt Lake. It was the only Scirpus species recognized as forming floristic alliances or associations in Utah according to criteria of the National Vegetation Classification System (Bourgeron et al, 29 August, 1994). Details of the inflorescence and the prominent triangular-shape culm were provided in standard works like A Utah Flora (Welsh et al, 1993, p.775). Unfortunately, some earlier references "lumped" plants now recognized as S. pungens in with the similar but recognizably different species, Olney's threesquare (S. olneyi= S. americanus). Such was the case with the master work, Flora of Utah and Nevada (Tidestrom, 1925, p. 100-101). Tooele County, Utah. June.

46. Wetlands and cattle in the desert- A natural flood meadow (alialine or brackish) had been augmented by a simple system of flood irrigation which exapnded the area of a Baltic wire rush (Juncus balticus)- black creeper sedge (Carex praegracilis) marsh that surrounded a slighter higher--therefore, drier--area of land on which inland or desert saltgrass formed an isolated semidesert grassland. Cows and calves were used to harvest the rich range bounty made possible by semi-natural irrigation. Species composition of the rush-sedge marsh was comparatively simple yet remarkably productive, at least of biomass. Wire rush is anything but platable even to graminoid-preferring cattle. But if cows have no choice... Consider how many acres of dry (arid) salt desert shrub or even naturalized range of introduced species like crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum, A. desertorum) would be needed to produce the biomass of plants and animals on one acre of this in-the-middle-of-the-desert wetland. Surrounding range (background) was primarily winterfat (Eurotia lanata= Ceratoides lanata) shrubland or dwarf scrub, Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides= Stipa hymenoides) semidesert grassland, and winterfat-Indian ricegrass dwarf scrub. The winterfat scrubland was treated in the chapter, Great Basin Desert (Great Basin Winterfat) while semidesert grasslands, including those made up of desert saltgrass, were covered in the chapter of that name (under Great Basin Semidesert Grassland). Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June. Ecosystem, range type, biotic community, ecoregion, etc. of this rangeland was cited in the immediately succeeding caption.

47. Wire rush marsh- Closer view of a large alkaline or brackish (or saline) marsh dominated by Baltic wire rush with black creeper or silver sedge as associate species. "Slivers" of desert saltgrass semidesert grassland were visible in midground (left margin across field of view) and background. Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June. FRES No. 41 (Wet Grassland Ecosystem) No Kuchler unit for rush and/or sedge marsh. No Society for Range Management rangeland cover type for Great Basin Wetlands so either add one or consider this a variant of Wetlands (SRM 217). Brown et al. (1998. p. 45) gave Sedge Series 242.41 of Great Basin Interior Marshland 242.4, but they did not provide--as they did for several marshland units-- a Rush Series which is what this wetland range vegetation was.Thus Rush Series 242.42 based of classifiction of Brown et al. (1998, p. 45). Bourgeron et al. (29 August, 1994) recognized a Juncus balticus association and a Distichlis spicata Phase within that association (both units were under a Juncus balticus Alliance) which covered this entire wetland range ecosystem. Juncus balticus (Seasonally Flooded) Herbaceous Vegetation (Nevada Natural Heritage Program, 26 September, 2003). Central Basin and Range- island of Wetlands Ecosystem, 13g (Woods et al., 2001).

48. Stream of life- A simple, crudely dug ditch (and a small one at that) efficiently re-distributed "extra" surface water in this valley basin to a larger area thereby increasing size of a Baltic wire rush-black creeper sedge marsh and desert saltgrass-dominated grassland. This expanded natural wetland of marsh and moist semidesert grassland provided abundant forage for a sizable herd of cows and calves. Most Intermountain cow-calf operations depend on a diversity of ranges, pastures, and harvested forages. Plants along the irrigation ditch were predominantely wire rush. Closely cropped grass on either side of the ditch (especially along right margin of photograph) was desert saltgrass. Snake Valley;, Millard County, Utah. June.

49. Every public (or private) works project needs an inspector- A white-nosed cow inspected grass, sedge, and rush at the pasture end of a small and simple ditch that brought natural surface water to a farther part of the valley. This man-augmented natural flood irrigation increased to considerable size a wetland made up of two range plant communities: 1) wire rush-black creeper sedge marsh and 2) desert saltgrass grassland. (The almost or sorta black baldy cow was also inspecting the photographer. She did not seem overly impressed. However, she did pay quite a bit more attention to him than many college students in his Principles of Range Mangment course.) Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June.

50. Source of all life- The receiving upper (higher) edge of a natural flood meadow was getting diverted surface water that increased the areas of two natural range communities: 1) wire rush-black creeper sedge marsh and 2) desert saltgrass semidesert grassland. All living things are roughly nine-tenths water, and this extra water was producing far more plant and animal life per area of rangeland than the surrounding xeric Indian ricegrass-grassland and winterfat-shrubland ranges. Together these different range cover types increased wildlife habitat, biodiversity, ranching opportunities, and tourist diversions. One key feature in stewardship of ranges is that management is usually extensive rather than intensive. The major husbandry imput on native grazing lands is grazing management. Management practices that require relatively high inputs of money, labor, knowledge craft, seed, fertilizer, and water (as in irrigation) are usually not done because they are not practical. Practicality is judged in terms of profit or, at least, breakeven cost-effectiveness. Irrigation is usually about the last production practice one would expect to be used on range. The example provided here illustrated an exception, but "an exception that proved the rule". When inputs that are usually intensive (hence, expensive) can be applied extensively (ie. without "too much" initial outlay of cash or with minimal maintenance, labor, or skill) it is sound management to use them. The augmented flooding of this range wetland demonstrated this ranching reality. Snake Valley , Millard County, Utah. June.

51. Two reps at the marsh- A "photo-quadrant" of the alkali marsh presented above portrayed two families of grasslike range plants. Baltic wire rush represented the Juncaceae while black creeper or silver sedge carried the banner for the Cyperaceae. This professor periodically used such examples of range wetlands (this one in a desert nonetheless) to point out to students the occurrence and importance of grasslike range plants (sedges, tules, rushes, burr-reeds, cattails). If students payed even a little less attention than the spotted-nosed cow they might have learned this lesson. (Won't bet the cow on it.) Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June.

52. Inflorescence of Baltic wire rush (Juncus balticus)- Inflorescence of wire rush with fruit in soft-dough stage. The open flower of wire rush that was growing on a saline or alkali flood medow in Motana was shown below. Wire rush has usually been regarded as the most widely distributed and major member of the Juncaceae across the North American Western Range. By the way, two outstanding references for Juncus of the Rocky Mountains and Intermountain Region are Herman (1975) and Hurd et al. (1994). Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June.

53. Fruit-bearing inflorescence of black creeper or silver sedge (Cyperus praegracilis)- This member of the Cyperaceae was the associate species on the Baltic wire rush-black creeper alkali marsh just described. The carices have long-been a "bear-cat" group of range plants for rangemen. Fortunately the Forest Service "rode to the rescue" by providing two outstanding references for the sedges of the Intermountain West (Hermann, 1970; Hurd et al, 1998). Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah. June.

Note: a good summary treatment of Intermountain wetlands was that of West (in Barbour and Billings, 2000, ps. 277-279).

54.  Salt or alkali meadow (salt marsh)- This saline, seasonally flooded habitat supports a salt or alkali (depending on interpretation) marsh community comprised of two consociations: 1) alkali cordgrass (Spartina gracilis) in foreground and 2) Baltic or wire rush (Juncus balticus) in background (with cattle). This is a seasonally or ephemerally wet meadow flooded in the spring by snowmelt. Perhaps it could be interpreted as an overall mesic (neither dry nor wet meadow) or, alternatively, it could viewed as a spring wet meadow and a late season dry meadow, the latter soil condition being exacerbated by high salt accumulation. Note that cattle are grazing the wire rush, a species usually or often thought of as low in palatability. (A wise acre once observed that the first law of animal nutrition is that given the opportunity an animal will eat, and whatever is there if need be.) Soil Conservation Service vegetation mapping unit #44 for Foothills and Mountains in Montana, Saline Lowland Range Site (Ross and Hunter, 1976, p. 43). FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem), K-65 (Northern Cordgrass Prairie). No specific SRM, but the Northern Rocky Mountains Cover Type equivalent of SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Rush Series in Rocky Mountain Montane Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Middle Rockies-Deer Lodge-Phillipsburg Avon Grassy Intermontane Hills and Valleys Ecoregion, 17ak (Woods et al., 2002). Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

55.  Saline flood meadow- This is another view of the same alkali meadow or salt marsh seen in the preceding slide. Wire rush forms a consociation in the foreground with alkali cordgrass as the associate species. The lighter green line of plants in the background is common cattail (Typha latifolia). Note surrounding hills in background from which water from melting snowpack (in a typical— non-drought— year) floods this valley.  FRES No. 41 (Wet Grasslands Ecosystem), K-65 (Northern Cordgrass Prairie). No specific SRM, but the Northern Rocky Mountains Cover Type equivalent of SRM 216 (Montane Meadows). Soil Conservation Service vegetation mapping unit #44 for Foothills and Mountains in Montana, Saline Lowland Range Site (Ross and Hunter, 1976, p. 43). Rush Series in Rocky Mountain Montane Marshland biotic community of Brown et al. (1998). Middle Rockies-Deer Lodge-Phillipsburg Avon Grassy Intermontane Hills and Valleys Ecoregion, 17ak (Woods et al., 2002). Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

56.  Baltic or wire rush- Colony of Juncus balticus on a Rocky Mountain salt meadow that is flooded in spring by snow water. Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

57. Shoot and inflorescence of wire rush- Stamen, stigma, and perigium are visible in this microlense shot. Specimen is growing on the alkali flood meadow seen immediately above. Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

58. Alkali cordgrass- A colony of the rhizomatous Spartina gracilis growing on the saline marsh viewed immediately above. Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

59. Inflorescence of alkali cordgrass- These spicate (spikelike) racemes are in anthesis with stamen and stigma clearly visible (at least before the slide was published as a j peg). Deer Lodge County, Montana. June.

60. Wet (subirrigated) meadow- The soil of this bottomland marsh gets water by lateral capillary flow from the clear stream beside it. This meadow community has been subjected to heavy grazing and as such is dominated by rush and sedge species with grasses largely limited to the introduced Kentucky bluegrass. As described by Hunter and Ross (1976, ps. 28-29), this range site in climax condition is dominanted by tufted hairgrass, American mannagrass (Glyceria grandis), and reedgrasses like bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis) and northern reedgrass (C. inexpansa). The foothills adjacent to the meadow are foothills prairie dominated by bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) and Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis