MLRA 39 - Arizona and New Mexico Mountains Arizona,Colorado, New Mexico,and Utah 111,140 km2 (42,910 mi2)

Potential Natural Vegetation:
This area supports alpine vegetation, conifer forests, chaparral, and grasses because of the broad elevation range. Such cushion plants as moss campion, kobresia, alpine timothy, and many low-growing forbs grow above timberline. Spruce-fir woodland characterizes the area below timberline. Aspen grows on sites that have not been disturbed by past fires. The understory includes Thurber fescue, brome, bluegrasses, mountain muhly, Arizona fescue, lupine, aspen peavine, penstemons, and daisies. The major part of the area is a vast ponderosa pine forest. Common understory plants include bromes, junegrass, pine dropseed, wheatgrasses, mountain muhly, blue grama, sedges, and snowberry. Pinyon-juniper woodland is at an elevation below 2,100 m. The understory is blue grama, tobosa, sideoats grama, and western wheatgrass. Below an elevation of about 1,800 m, turbinella oak, mountainmahogany, hollyleaf buckthorn, ceanothus, and manzanita grow along with sideoats grama, blue grama, junegrass, longtongue muttongrass, squirreltail, and bluegrasses.

12/16/98