Wasatch and Uinta montane forests

Wasatch and Uinta montane forests
Wasatch and Uinta montane forests
	Coniferous forest with Kings Peak in the background, Uinta Mountains
Ecology
Biome	Temperate coniferous forest
Borders	Colorado Plateau shrublands; Wyoming Basin shrub steppe; Great Basin shrub steppe;
Bird species	190
Mammal species	91
Geography
Area	41,500 km2 (16,000 sq mi)
Country	United States
States	Utah; Wyoming; Idaho;
Conservation
Habitat loss	2.45%
Protected	68.9%

The Wasatch and Uinta montane forest is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Wasatch Range and Uinta Mountains of the western Rocky Mountains system, in the Western United States.

Setting

This ecoregion is located almost entirely within the state of Utah, with a very small portion stretching north into southwestern Wyoming and southeastern Idaho. This ecoregion covers the driest ranges of the Rocky Mountains, in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada to the west.

Flora

The dominant vegetation type of this ecoregion is coniferous forest, composed mainly of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), with limited populations of limber pine (Pinus flexilis). This ecoregion is unique from other Rocky Mountain ecoregions in that large areas are dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii).

Fauna

Mammals include mule deer (Odocoileus hemonius), elk (Cervus canadensis), moose (Alces alces), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), black bear (Ursus americanus) and cougar (Puma concolor).

Threats and preservation

The majority of this ecoregion has been greatly affected by livestock grazing, logging, mining, and recreational uses such as downhill skiing, and as a result, its conservation status is "critical/endangered". Very few areas are protected, and the largest area that is protected, the High Uintas Wilderness in northeastern Utah, mainly protects areas in the high alpine zone, with the more diverse montane and subalpine zones being almost entirely unprotected. The main threats to this ecoregion's integrity are motorised recreation, widespread livestock grazing and downhill skiing. This region has also been severely effected by mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the last decades, killing large swathes of forest.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hoekstra, J. M.; Molnar, J. L.; Jennings, M.; Revenga, C.; Spalding, M. D.; Boucher, T. M.; Robertson, J. C.; Heibel, T. J.; Ellison, K. (2010). Molnar, J. L. (ed.). The Atlas of Global Conservation: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities to Make a Difference. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26256-0.

"Wasatch and Uinta montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
Wasatch and Uinta montane forests (National Geographic)
Wasatch and Uinta montane forests (Vanderbilt University)

Nearctic temperate coniferous forests ecoregions v t e
Alberta Mountain forests	Canada
Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests	Canada
Arizona Mountains forests	United States
Atlantic coastal pine barrens	United States
Blue Mountains forests	United States
British Columbia mainland coastal forests	Canada, United States
Cascade Mountains leeward forests	Canada, United States
Central and Southern Cascades forests	United States
Central British Columbia Mountain forests	Canada
Central Pacific coastal forests	Canada, United States
Colorado Rockies forests	United States
Eastern Cascades forests	Canada, United States
Fraser Plateau and Basin complex	Canada
Florida scrub	United States
Great Basin montane forests	United States
Haida Gwaii	Canada
Klamath-Siskiyou forests	United States
Middle Atlantic coastal forests	United States
North Central Rockies forests	Canada, United States
Northern California coastal forests	United States
Northern Pacific coastal forests	Canada, United States
Northern transitional alpine forests	Canada
Okanagan dry forests	Canada, United States
Piney Woods forests	United States
Puget lowland forests	Canada, United States
Sierra Juárez and San Pedro Mártir pine–oak forests	Mexico
Sierra Nevada forests	United States
South Central Rockies forests	United States
Southeastern conifer forests	United States
Wasatch and Uinta montane forests	United States

[Atlas-1] Hoekstra, J. M.; Molnar, J. L.; Jennings, M.; Revenga, C.; Spalding, M. D.; Boucher, T. M.; Robertson, J. C.; Heibel, T. J.; Ellison, K. (2010). Molnar, J. L. (ed.). The Atlas of Global Conservation: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities to Make a Difference. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26256-0.

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