Living Landscapes

GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda
Table of Contents
Glossary

Regional Introduction
The Columbia Basin region, as described in this treatment, and represented by the Living Landscapes program (Map 1 ) is bounded at the western boundary along the ridge line of the Monashee and Columbia Mountains and to the south by the Canada/U.S. border. On the eastern boundary is the British Columbia / Alberta border through the Rocky Mountains and the northern limit is at Valemont. The Columbia Basin region is made up of four mountain ranges: the Monashee, Selkirk, Purcell and the Rocky Mountains. The intervening valleys of these ranges have long lake chains such as the Kinbasket/Columbia/Koocanusa river system, the Kootenay Lake/Duncan Lake system, Slocan Lake/Kootenay river system and the Arrow Lakes. The region falls within the Southern Cordilleran and The Interior Cordilleran Ecoclimatic zones. The climate of this region is strongly moderated by the continental influences, and this means that humidity and precipitation are reduced from that of the Pacific Coastal region.
Where grasses are commonly located in the Columbia Basin
When people think of grasses in British Columbia, they usually think of the extensive grasslands of the Southern Interior and the Rocky Mountain Trench. But throughout British Columbia, grasses grow in every terrestrial environment from slightly submerged shoreline to mountaintop. In the Columbia Basin region, grasses inhabit open forests, wetlands, and the alpine zone, especially along the rocky ridges and talus slopes. Grasses often predominate in the dry valley bottoms and slopes too. (Checklist)
Grasses of the Biogeoclimatic zones
According to the Biogeoclimatic (BEC) mapping of forested ecosystems (Meidinger and Pojar, 1991) there are seven biogeoclimatic zones (Map 2), located in the Living Landscapes study area of the Columbia Basin. These are Alpine Tundra, Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir, Montane Spruce, Sub-Boreal Spruce, Interior Cedar-Hemlock, Interior Douglas-fir and Ponderosa Pine. All of these zones, though dominated by tree species, have grasses associated with them.

Biogeoclimatic Zone Common Name Scientific Name

Alpine tundra
above 2,250 m elevation Alpine Fescue
Rough Fescue
Green Fescue
Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye
Slender Wheatgrass
Glaucous Bluegrass
Purple Reedgrass

Timber Oatgrass
Arctic Bluegrass Festuca brachyphylla
Festuca campestris
Festuca viridula
Leymus innovatus
Elymus trachycaulis
Poa glauca
Calamagrostis purpurascens
Danthonia intermedia
Poa arctica

Engelmann Spruce Subalpine Fir
from 1,500-2,300 m Rough Fescue
Green Fescue Festuca campestris
Festuca viridula

Montane spruce
from 1,250-1,700 m Pinegrass
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Idaho Fescue Calamagrostis rubescens
Pseudoroegneria spicata
Festuca idahoensis

Sub-Boreal Spruce
from valley bottom to 1,100-1,300 m Pinegrass
Rough-leaved Ricegrass Calamagrostis rubescens
Oryzopsis asperifolia

Interior Cedar Hemlock
from 400-1,500 m Bluebunch Wheatgrass Pseudoroegneria spicata

Interior Douglas Fir
from 350-600 m Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Pinegrass
Idaho Fescue
Rough Fescue
Junegrass
Kentucky Bluegrass Pseudoroegneria spicata
Calamagrostis rubescens
Festuca idahoensis
Festuca campestris
Koeleria macrantha
Poa pratensis

Ponderosa pine
lowland to 350 m Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Sandberg's Bluegrass
Cheatgrass
Alkali Saltgrass
Rocky Mntn Fescue
Rough Fescue
Junegrass Pseudoroegneria spicata
Poa secunda
Bromus tectorum
Distichlis spicata
Festuca saximontana
Festuca campestris
Koeleria macrantha

Table adapted from species lists in Meidinger and Pojar (1991).
Within each of these zones, different grass species grow in different habitats, influenced by soil moisture, chemistry and disturbance, such as fire, grazing and human activity. Surprisingly, grasses are often associated with forests, especially open ones. It is very difficult to classify "open forests". Are they forests or grasslands? Often the most abundant species are grasses, but they grow under a canopy of trees, so we think of open forest as a forest type. In some sites, grassland continues right in under the trees and the same species appear in both communities, yet one is classified as forest and the other grassland. Consequently though forests cover much of the Columbia Basin, grasses constitute a major element of the flora.
In addition to the grass species naturally associated with forests, there are species that occur because of human activities. They include pastures, lawns, improved rangeland and weedy sites. Most of the species of these situations were introduced and have spread along roadside ditches, into abandoned fields and in waste places. Of the 152 grass species in this study, 40 originated outside of North America, and in some cases these were planted to improve existing grassland or to stabilize slopes after road construction.
Grasses of Wetlands
Perhaps the most predominant, yet often overlooked, grassland communities in the Columbia Basin region are those that withstand repeated flooding. These are habitats that are broadly classified as bogs, fens, marshes and swamps. A preliminary wetland classification for the region (W. Mackenzie, 1999, pers. comm.), lists 22 wetland community types. Common wetland grass species are Bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis), Fowl Mannagrass (Glyceria striata), Reedgrass (Glyceria grandis), Wood Reed Grass (Cinna latifolia),Common Reed (Phragmites australis), Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) and Spike Bentgrass (Agrostis exarata).

Wetland
Type Plant Association

Common Name

Latin Name

bog
Lodgepole Pine Labrador Tea
Peat Moss
Bluejoint
Calamagrostis canadensis

Lodgepole pine
Interior spruce
Bog laurel
Peat Moss none

fen
Pine
Water Sedge
Peat Moss Bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis

Scrub Birch
Water Sedge Spike Bentgrass
Bluejoint Agrostis exarata
Calamagrostis canadensis

Scrub Birch
Buckbean
Peatmoss Hair Bentgrass
Bluejoint Agrostis scabra
Calamagrostis canadensis

Beaked Sedge
Water Sedge Alpine Bentgrass
Bluejoint
Slimstem Reedgrass
Reed Mannagrass Agrostis humilis
Calamagrostis canadensis
Calamagrostis stricta
Glyceria grandis

Tufted Clubrush
Star Moss Bluejoint
Timber Oatgrass
Fescue Calamagrostis canadensis
Danthonia intermedia
Festuca sp.

Narrow-leaved-cottongrass
Shore Sedge Bluejoint
Sweet Grass Calamagrostis canadensis
Hierochloe odorata

Few-flowered-spikerush
Hook Moss Hair Bentgrass
Bluejoint
Alpine Timothy Agrostis scabra
Calamagrostis canadensis
Phleum alpinum

Slender sedge
Buckbean Bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis

Slender Sedge
Hook Moss Bluejoint
Reed Mannagrass Calamagrostis canadensis
Glyceria grandis

Swamp/ Bench Drummond Willow
Bluejoint Bluejoint
Wood Reedgrass
Reed Mannagrass Calamagrostis canadensis
Cinna latifolia
Glyceria striata

swamp Mountain Alder
Hardhack
Water Sedge Bluejoint
Reed Mannagrass
Mannagrass Calamagrostis canadensis
Glyceria striata
Glyceria sp.

Spruce
Pine
Subalpine-fir
Skunkcabbage
Peatmoss Bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis

Sitka willow
Small-flowered-bulrush Bluejoint
Wood Reedgrass Calamagrostis canadensis
Cinna latifolia

Sitka Willow
Water Sedge Hair Bentgrass
Bluejoint
Slimstem Reedgrass Agrostis scabra
Calamagrostis canadensis
Calamagrostis stricta

Reed Canary Grass
Cleared Reed Mannagrass
Reed Canary Grass Glyceria grandis
Phalaris arundinacea

marsh Common reed marsh Reed Canary Grass
Canada Bluegrass
Kentucky Bluegrass
Brome Phalaris arundinacea
Poa compressa
Poa pratensis
Bromus sp.

Common spike rush Spike Bentgrass
Little Foxtail
Mannagrass
Reed Canary Grass
Fowl Bluegrass
Nuttall's Alkaligrass Agrostis exarata
Alopecurus aequalis
Glyceria borealis
Phalaris arundinacea
Poa palustris
Puccinellia nuttalliana

Cattail Redtop Agrostis gigantea
Phalaris arundinacea

Bulrush none

Adapted from preliminary draft data from Wetland Classification (W. Mackenzie, 1999, pers. comm.).
Horse paddock at Fort Steele
Grasses of Disturbed sites
Disturbed urban and suburban sites are great places to look for grasses. Roadsides and railroad verges support a wide range of mostly introduced, invasive or foreign species. For example, at Revelstoke in the zone between the rail bed and main street, common species are Couchgrass (Elymus repens); Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis); Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata); Green Bristle Grass (Setaria viridis); Timothy (Phleum pratense); Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) -- found in the ditch; Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis); Witchgrass (Panicum capillare) and Bent Grass (Agrostis gigantea). Of these, Couchgrass is probably the most universal in its occurrence in urban lots, roadsides and back alleys.
At Grand Forks, which has a drier and hotter climate, many of the same species occur in disturbed sites, especially Couchgrass. Other common grasses include several species of bluegrass, such as Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis), Canada Bluegrass (Poa compressa) and Bulbous Bluegrass (Poa bulbosa), as well as Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Tall Wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum) and Crested Wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) -- which is abundant in dry stony sites, Stink Grass (Eragrostis cilianensis) and scattered annual fescues (Vulpia sp.). The highway roadside and ditch west of Grand Forks supports a thriving population of Wild Oat (Avena fatua) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum).
An abandoned dumpsite in Nelson had a healthy population of Barnyard Grass (Echinochloa crusgalli), Wild Oat (Avena fatua) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum).
Historically, botanists have paid little attention to these weedy species mentioned above, and collection has concentrated on the native species in undisturbed situations. The presence of these grasses is so common that we almost forget that they are there. These are the grasses that grow in most of our communities and they are a good way to get started when looking at grasses.
Grassland History
Today in the Columbia Basin, extensive grasslands occupy valley bottoms in dry or wet settings. In the past though, grasslands dominated the landscape. Following the retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet about 13,000 years ago in the cool, arcticlike climate, pioneering grasslands included sage, sedges and grasses. Between 10,000-8,000 years ago, grasslands extended above 1,300 m during a climate warmer and drier than today. Sage (Artemisia spp.) and grasses occurred widely at this time. The initial stands developed into extensive forests as the climate began to moisten from 7,000-4,000 years ago. Later, much of the landscape was dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Larch (Larix sp.), Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and Spruce (Picea sp.). Forest species expanded further downslope as the climate cooled 4,000 years ago. Grasslands became confined to either the hot dry areas at low elevation, or places where trees could not grow, such as wetlands, slides, floodplains or edges of meandering creeks.
Why grasses are well suited to extremes
Grasses are the only family of plants that are able to withstand cool-moist, hot-dry, or completely wet and almost submerged conditions because of their unique structural adaptations. They can also withstand grazing and fire. The fibrous roots of some annual grasses enable them to establish quickly in the wet mud of a marsh, other wetland grass species put down fibrous root masses. In dry situations, certain grass species grow in clumps (bunch grasses) to prevent the roots from drying out, and to prevent the soil from being lost around the root mass. In grass, the tissue responsible for growth (crown), is located toward the base of the leaf or shoot near the root, rather than at the tip as in other plants. This arrangement allows the grass to regenerate after it gets cropped or burned.
Silica bodies in the leaf cells prevent leaves from wilting in hot, dry temperatures and these sharp silica bodies also protect the leaf. Remember the first time you ran your hand along the edge of a fresh leaf and got cut? That memory is one that keeps us from grazing on grass leaves. However it doesn't stop cows, horses, sheep and their wild counterparts, which have tough mouth parts, continuously growing teeth and several stomachs to digest the tough fibres. Some grass species adapt to dry conditions by rolling their leaves inward, or folding them to prevent water loss from the surface. A broad leaf surface means more surface area for evaporation.
Grasses are wind pollinated, so they do not need showy flowers to attract insect pollinators. Grasses that grow in dry areas -- where seeds need to be buried to ensure enough moisture for seed germination -- tend to have long awns and a narrow, cylinderlike flower to allow the seeds to move along cracks in the soil particles. Grass seeds are dispersed by many methods, but grasses do not need seed to disperse. Most grasses can spread vegetatively by forming tufts or by rhizomes. The tufted type of grass species move out from a central parent and the younger plants are around the outside of the parent plant. Rhizomes are the favoured mode of dispersal for a large number of wetland grasses. In high-water levels parts of the rhizome break off and float to new sites, along eroding banks and gravel bars. Other grass species form small "live" bulblets or plants that start growing when they fall off the mother plant. Some species of the Bluegrass (Poa) genus, all the plants are female and they can set seed without pollen. The flowers of the annual fescues (Vulpia) do not open for pollination, instead the flower remains closed and the seed is set using pollen from the same plant. Using vegetative methods, grasses are not dependent on seed set, but can get established in extreme areas before other pioneering species can set seed.
Although the leaf blades are the prime food source for many grazing animals, the seeds provide critical nutrition to rodents, birds and waterfowl, and humans. In fact, the fruit of one grass -- Wheat -- is central to our daily diet. Other important grasses in our diet are Rye, Rice, Corn and Oats. Even sugar, which comes from sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), is from a grass. Grasses were important to British Columbia's First Peoples in day-to-day life, for making bedding, lining steam pits, covering berry baskets, decorating baskets and making food-drying mats.
Why native grasslands are important in the Columbia Basin
In the Montane Cordillera area of British Columbia, the grasses (Poaceae) are second only to the sedges (Cyperaceae) in numbers of species. Douglas et al. (1994), listed 243 species of grasses in British Columbia. The collection at the Royal British Columbia Museum has vouchers for 152 species in the Columbia Basin. These numbers give the impression that grass species occur commonly in the Columbia Basin, but these numbers hide the changes that are occurring in the region.
There are currently (1999) six grass species in the Columbia Basin on the B.C. Conservation Data Centre's Red List. A Red-listed species is a candidate for legal designation as endangered or threatened. The Columbia Basin Red-listed species are:

Bouteloua gracilis
Photo: Marie Fontaine

Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)
Water hairgrass (Catabrosa aquatica)
Foxtail Muhly (Muhlenbergia andina)
Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Prairie Wedgegrass (Sphenopholis obtusata var. major)
Prairie Wedgegrass (Sphenopholis obtusata var. obtusata)

There are ten Blue-listed species in the Columbia Basin. A Blue-listed species is a vulnerable grass that could easily become a candidate for the Red List in the future because of changes in its occurrence. These vulnerable grasses could easily become candidates for the Red List in the future because of changes in their occurrence. The Blue-listed candidates are:
Plains Reedgrass (Calamagrostis montanensis)
Slender-spiked Mannagrass (Glyceria leptostachya)
Slender Mannagrass (Glyceria pulchella)
Oniongrass (Melica bulbosa)
Smith's Melic (Melica smithii)
Purple Oniongrass (Melica spectabilis)
Marsh Muhly (Muhlenbergia glomerata)
Sprangle-top (Scholochloa festucacea)
Porcupinegrass (Stipa spartea)
Wolf's Trisetum (Trisetum wolfii)

Some species are placed on the Red and the Blue lists because they grow at the edge of their geographic range. Others because they have very particular habitat needs (for example high alkalinity) or their habitats are being lost to development. Some rare species are being displaced by introduced species such as Knapweed (Centaurea spp.). Surprisingly, there are only 40 introduced species (brought into the area from outside North America) among the 152 species representing about 25% of the grass flora. These numbers hide the fact that introduced grasses occupy a larger area than do the native grasses. In overgrazed grassland a sea of Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) usually dominates with scattered native species.
A native grassland has a majority of native grass species and has not been "improved" by the addition of introduced species. Today in the Columbia Basin it is difficult to find native grassland because pasture grasses have been sown into natural open habitats. In an effort to re-establish native grass species on disturbed sites, native grass seed mixtures are now used to revegetate roadsides, campgrounds, stream banks and some grasslands. It is only through this reintroduction of native grass species, and conscientious habitat management, that we can hope to restore the biodiversity of grasslands in the Columbia Basin. Grasslands do not require a "hands off" policy to protect them, but they are vulnerable to development and over-management.
Past collection history
Herbarium databases reflect the activity and movements of earlier botanists in a region. To a degree, the apparent distribution of a species from herbarium records reflects the ease of travel of botanists on the landscape. In general, maps stimulate questions about distribution gaps and the concentration of species data. The earliest recorded grass specimen collected in the Columbia Basin region in the Royal British Columbia Museum's database is one collection by J.R. Anderson in 1895. Collection growth remained slow until J.W. Eastham began collecting in the 1930s. This collection of grasses remains one of the Royal BC Museum's largest. George Hardy, past curator at the Royal British Columbia Museum, collected in the Columbia Basin in the 1940s. Fred Fodor, Marc Bell and James Calder collected extensively in the 1950s and '60s. The bulk of the collection was amassed in the 1970s and '80s when curators such as T.C Brayshaw, A. Ceska, R.T Ogilvie and L. Pavlick spent time collecting in the Columbia Basin, especially along the Rocky Mountain Trench. David and Alan Polster collected large amounts of material in 1975 and 1976 from the Akamina and Kishinena creeks area. Hans Roemer, botanist with Provincial Parks, has deposited large collections of grass specimens from the Columbia Basin. In recent years, the B.C. Conservation Data Centre has added voucher material representing rare species.

Living Landscapes

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