South Central Rockies forests
The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.
Setting
This ecoregion is located in eastern and central Idaho, south-western and south-central Montana, western and northeastern Wyoming, and southwestern South Dakota. It is centered on the Yellowstone Plateau, extending outward on connected mountain ranges, but the ecoregion also includes the isolated Bighorn Mountains and Black Hills, as well as smaller isolated ranges in central Montana. The area has a dry continental climate, with brief summers and long, cold winters.Flora
The ecoregion is predominantly coniferous forest, dominated by lodgepole pine due to relatively recent major fires in the area. Other trees include Engelmann spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, Ponderosa pine, subalpine fir and trembling aspen. Whitebark pine is an important species at the upper tree line/krummholz zone.In addition, this ecoregion contains foothill grasslands and shrub steppes dominated by big sagebrush, similar to the surrounding Montana valley and foothill grasslands, Wyoming Basin shrub steppe, and Snake–Columbia shrub steppe. There also are mountain meadows, riparian woodlands, and alpine tundra. In some areas, geothermal activity creates distinct, warm habitats with unique floral communities.
Fauna
Mammals of this ecoregion include elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, plains bison, Shiras moose, cougar, grizzly bear, northwestern wolf, black bear, bobcat and Canada lynx, coyote, North American beaver, North American river otter, and snowshoe hare.Birds are typical of the forested portions of the northern Rocky Mountains, including Steller's jay, black-capped chickadee, and pine siskin. This ecoregion boasts a very rich avifauna, including such specialists as white pelican, trumpeter swan, and (black) rosy finch. Other typical species include harlequin duck, Barrow's goldeneye, Swainson's hawk, bald eagle, osprey, sage grouse, sandhill crane, Franklin's gull, American dipper, Townsend's solitaire, yellow-rumped warbler, and Brewer's sparrow. Herpetofauna typical of this ecoregion are the spotted frog, prairie rattlesnake, rubber boa, boreal toad, and blotched tiger salamander.