Habitats

This is a guide to the different kinds of ‘habitats’ this project classifies areas one might find plants into.

-These categories are not standardized anywhere but this database, but are inspired by and similar to those that large, more professional organizations use.
-Different plants like to grow in only one or a few of these habitats, which are listed on the details page of each plant.
-These are broad categories, and there is a bit of overlap between them.

1. Wet areas (near marshes, rivers or ponds/lakes)

• This category includes plants in any area immediately next to water, like riparian woodlands and shrubland (thick clusters of trees/shrubs around bodies of water), wetlands/marshes, and the shores of lakes, ponds, or reservoirs.
  *This database does NOT include the aquatic plants that live under the surface of lakes+rivers

*I wasn’t able to visit and catalog very many plants in this category, so the database doesn’t show the full selection of plants you can find in these areas.

Pictures from Walden Ponds, Buckingham Park in Left Hand Canyon, and the Anne U. White Trail.

2. Disturbed soil (exposed, scuffed-up patches of bare dirt)

Any patch of soil that is scuffed-up and mostly bare. This is a bit of a ¨catch all¨ but is primarily empty farm fields, dusty roadsides, the edges of trails, areas on the edges of landscaping in residential areas, and areas of construction. Many types of plants grow in disturbed soil, but they are often dominated by what we would call “weeds”, invasive species and scrappy natives.

3. Grassy plains

Flat zones of grasslands, not in high hillsor the foothills. Areas count as ‘grassy plains’ even if there are tree patches nearby, and generally include low, grassy mesas.

Pictures from Walker Ranch, Old Kiln Trail, and other areas.

4. Low foothills (grassy, less trees)

The lowest part of the foothills, as plains transition into grassy slopes.

-Low foothills with consistent grass cover. This includes grassy slopes and hills, which gradually fade into higher, more rocky foothills with more dense tree cover. These areas may have occasional, small clusters of ponderosa pine and shrubs, with a scattered boulder here and there, but are predominantly grassy. However they are at a significantly higher elevation than the plains. This includes, for example, most of the foothills above Wonderland lake, the Angel Tree trail, and the lower parts of Mt. Sanitas. The elevation of most of Boulder proper (the city) is around 5, 430 ft, so this roughly covers from 5,500 ft to 6,000 ft. (Maybe give or take 100 or 200 ft on the latter end of that).

Pictures from the Angel Tree trail, Old Kiln trail, and Chautauqua.

5. High foothills (more rocky, more trees)

Areas higher in the foothills with patchy grass, rocks, dirt, and bark instead of consistent grass cover. Thick clusters of ponderosa pine, with occasional large rocky outcroppings and geologic formations. The soil varies from loam under areas with pine trees, to extremely gravelly/rocky. This type of habitat covers elevations from around 6,000 or 7,000-8,000 ft. It fades out at about the elevation of the tip of the highest flatiron into the actual mountains.

6. Montane (mountains)

The true mountains above the level of the foothills. It technically covers anything above around 8,000 ft to the line where trees stop being able to grow on the tips of high mountains, which is around 10,000 ft above sea level. This starts around the tips of the highest flatiron. In this zone, tree cover starts to become more dense in most areas, and ponderosa pine is no longer dominant, being either not present or mixed in with other conifers.
*There are MANY sub-habitats within the montane classification, since it really only descibes a certain level of elevation. These include montane meadows and grassy areas, Aspen tree groves, sheer cliff faces, and mountain streams and marshes.
*I was not able to visit many montane areas, so this database lacks many montane species.

7. Alpine

Areas of maximum possible elevation on mountaintops, above the level where trees are able to grow. There is often snow cover and cold temperatures in these areas even in the summertime, and all plant life is very small and hardy. This starts roughly 11,500 ft above sea level.

*I did not visit any Alpine areas for this project, so only a few species that could grow in alpine areas are covered. There aren’t many alpine areas within Boulder county, but Rocky Mountain National park (within a reasonable driving distance of Boulder) includes some large and iconic ones.
Images from Rocky Mountain National Park