Bioimages home      (click on an image to enlarge)
view this page in its intended navigation context

Snake-Columbia shrub steppe (WWF ecoregion NA1309)


eastern Oregon  (c) 2005 Carol J. Baskauf

Source of bioregions data: Olson, D. M. and E. Dinerstein. The Global 200: Priority ecoregions for global conservation. (PDF file) Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89:125-126.

Distinctiveness (1=highest,4=lowest): 3 (bioregionally outstanding)
Sagebrush dominates the vegetation.  Isolated mountain ranges contain fir and aspen species.  *

Conservation Status (1=most endangered, 5=most intact): 2 (endangered)
Overgrazing, fire suppression, and invasive grasses are the major threats to the ecoregion.  Conversion to agriculture creates fragmentation.*

Characteristic species*
 

	Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush)
	Artemisia tripartita (threetip sagebrush)
	Agropyron spicatum or Pseudoroegneria spicata ssp. spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass)

Festuca idahoensis (Idaho fescue)

Pseudotsuga menziesii

(Douglas fir)

Abies lasiocarpa

(subalpine fir)

Populus tremuloides

(quaking aspen)

Salix spp. (willows)

Associated habitats

arid steppe, Klickitat Co., Washington

(c) 2005 Steven J. Baskauf  hires  hires  hires

riparian area, Columbia River near The Dalles, Washington

(c) 2005 Steven J. Baskauf  hires  hires

savanna, Lassen Co., California

 (c) 2005 James H. Bassett  hires

* Ricketts, T.H., E. Dinerstein, D.M. Olson, C.J. Loucks, et al.  (1999) Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment.  World Wildlife Fund - United States and Canada.  Island Press, Washington, D.C. pp. 337-340.

Terms of use