Wasatch and Uinta montane forests
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.
| Wasatch and Uinta montane forests | |
|---|---|
 Coniferous forest with Kings Peak in the background, Uinta Mountains | |
 | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Nearctic |
| Biome | Temperate coniferous forest |
| Borders | |
| Bird species | 190[1] |
| Mammal species | 91[1] |
| Geography | |
| Area | 41,500 km2 (16,000 sq mi) |
| Country | United States |
| States | |
| Climate type | Cold semi-arid |
| Conservation | |
| Habitat loss | 2.45%[1] |
| Protected | 68.9%[1] |
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) and Bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum).
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) cougar (Puma concolor), and wolverine (Gulo gulo)
Brown bear and gray wolf, are also native to these forests, and much of the rest of Utah, but have been extirpated due to hunting, with brown bears having not been found in utah since roughly 1922, when the last grizzly bear Old Ephraim was shot and killed.[2] Gray wolves have begun to return to utah, primarily in the far northeastern reaches of state, where it borders Wyoming and Idaho. Both Bears and Wolves have been under threat, due primarily to the livestock industry which is an obstacle currently preventing their return.[3]
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
- 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.
- "Grizzly Bear Archives".
- "Rare Gray Wolf Found in Utah Targeted by State Trappers".
- "Wasatch and Uinta montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- Wasatch and Uinta montane forests (National Geographic)
- Wasatch and Uinta montane forests (Vanderbilt University)