East Cascades Oak-Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland
This ecological system includes forests and woodlands at or near lower treeline in foothills of the eastern Cascades in Washington and Oregon within 65 km (40 miles) of the Columbia River Gorge and in the Columbia Plateau ecoregion. Elevations range from 460 to 1920 m. Most occurrences of this system are dominated by a mix of Oregon white oak and ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir. Isolated, taller ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir over Oregon white oak trees characterize parts of this system. The understory may include dense stands of shrubs or, more often, be dominated by grasses, sedges or wildflowers. Shrub layers may include antelope bitterbrush, basin big sagebrush, black sagebrush, and green rabbitbrush. Understories are generally dominated by herbaceous species, especially grasses. Mesic sites have open to closed sod-forming grasses and grasslike plants such as pinegrass, Geyer's sedge, Ross' sedge, long-stolon sedge, or blue wildrye. For more information, see NatureServe Explorer.
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