. Aspen community types of Utah. Forest ecology Utah; Aspen; Plant communities Utah. Valeriana occidentalism Mertensia arizonica, Agastache urticifolia. Delphinium occidentale, and Polemonium foliosissimum. Combinations of these occur in varying but usually noticeable amounts. Other common forbs include Thalictrum fendleri, Stellaria jaynesiana, Osmorhiza chilensis, Vicia americana, and Lathyrus spp. Substantial amounts of grasses are usually interspersed among the forbs; most common and abundant of these are Bromus carinatus, Agropyron trachycaulum, and Elymus glaucus. Pocket gophers frequent
. Aspen community types of Utah. Forest ecology Utah; Aspen; Plant communities Utah. Valeriana occidentalism Mertensia arizonica, Agastache urticifolia. Delphinium occidentale, and Polemonium foliosissimum. Combinations of these occur in varying but usually noticeable amounts. Other common forbs include Thalictrum fendleri, Stellaria jaynesiana, Osmorhiza chilensis, Vicia americana, and Lathyrus spp. Substantial amounts of grasses are usually interspersed among the forbs; most common and abundant of these are Bromus carinatus, Agropyron trachycaulum, and Elymus glaucus. Pocket gophers frequently churn the relatively deep, loose soil of this type, providing condi- tions amply suited for the growth of such annuals as Nemophila breviflora, Polygonum douglasii, Collomia linearis, and Galium bifolium. POTR/SESE is a major climax aspen community type that is especially prevalent in northern Utah. Occasional stands classified into this type could be considered serai communities within the A. lasiocarpa/0. chilensis habitat type (Mauk and Henderson 1984) if A. lasiocarpa were able to actively invade and replace the aspen overstory. Prolonged heavy grazing in this type will probably cause a substantial reduction in species diversity. If abusively grazed by sheep, a decrease in the more palatable forbs can be expected with a corresponding increase in E. glaucus, B. carinatus, and R. occidentalis. Such use by cattle will tend to shift community composition strongly toward R. occidentalis and possibly Lathyrus spp. In some cases, S. serra may also increase substantially under heavy cattle use. Prolonged abusive grazing by either class of livestock would likely eliminate many of the more palatable perennials and favor an increase in annuals (fig. 8). The potential of the type for wood production appears to be slightly better than the average for all of the aspen community types. We sampled 64 stands within this type for production. Tree basal area ranged from 46 to 302 ft^/acre
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