Colorado Rockies forests

The Colorado Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States.

Spruce forest in the Colorado Rockies

Setting

This ecoregion is located in the highest ranges of the Rocky Mountains, in central and western Colorado, northern New Mexico and southeastern Wyoming, and experiences a dry continental climate.^[1][2]

Flora

The dominant vegetation type of this ecoregion is coniferous forest. In contrast with Rocky Mountain ecoregions to the north, lodgepole pine is rather rare, replaced by Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca) and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) can also be found in the mountain forests. Bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) is the dominant plant at the tree line/krummholz zone. Aside from coniferous forests, the ecoregion contains meadows, foothill grasslands, riparian woodlands and alpine tundra.

Fauna

Mammals include elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemonius), black bear (Ursus americanus), wolverine (Gulo gulo), cougar (Puma concolor), lynx (Lynx canadensis), American marten (Martes americana), and, possibly, grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horriblis).

Threats and preservation

While this ecoregion is listed as "relatively stable/intact", it is threatened by logging, mining, oil and gas development, recreational-residential construction, domestic livestock grazing and introduction of exotic species. Protected areas include Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks Wilderness in north-central Colorado, South San Juan Wilderness in south-central Colorado, Carson National Forest in north-central New Mexico and Medicine Bow – Routt National Forest in southeastern Wyoming.

See also

• Southern Rocky Mountains

References

1. ^ http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/na/na0511_full.html Colorado Rockies forests (World Wildlife Fund)
2. ^ http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/ecoregions/50511.htm Colorado Rockies forests (Vanderbilt University)

• - Colorado Rockies forests (National Geographic)