Montane--Oak Shrubland Ecosystem

Elevation, Precipitation, and Temperature

Elevation: 5,500 to 9,000 feet

Average cool temp: 32F degrees or below
Precipitation for January ,February snow: less than 10 inches

Precipitation rain per year: Seven inches

Since the Montane, oak shrubland ecosystem elevation is high it results in cooler weather, snow, and rain!

Major Producers

Lodgepole Pine

The Lodgepole Pine is coniferous
It is a highly adaptable tree that can grow in all sorts of environments
Lodgepole Pines are one of the first trees to grow after a wildfire
Lodgepole Pine cones protect itself by a seal of pitch that requires fire or heat to release the seeds. This allows seeds to stay on the ground for many years until it provides growing conditions.
Their habitat is Montane, Oak-Shrubland ecosystem on both sides of the Continental Divide

Chokecherry

Their habitat of Chokecherry is found in central and northern United States and southern Canada.
chokecherry is a deciduous
chokecherry was used for both settler and native people's concocted cough

syrup from berries and made preparation of the inner for sore throat
headaches and diarrhea.

Quaking Aspen

The Quaking Aspen is Deciduous
The Quaking Aspen is most found in North America They also grow in Alaska and Canada, and all the way south to Mexico.
Quaking aspen grows best on moist, well-drained soils, especially soils rich in calcium
such as those derived from limestone.
Quaking Aspen wood has a soft and brittle and not very durable. The Shuswap people used young aspen to make tent poles

Rocky Mountain Maple

Rocky Mountain Maple is a deciduous
Rocky Mountain Maple is found mainly in moist, well-drained soils of mountain slopes and canyons.
The Rocky Mountain Maple is used for making mats, rope, snowshoes, drum hoops, bows and pegs. It was often used by native North American Indian tribes

Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa is a coniferous tree

Their habitat is native to the western United States and Canada.

It is mostly distributed in North America

Ponderosa Pine is widely used in the woodworking field for fabricating into architectural woodwork, furniture and specialty products

Major Consumers

American Black Bear

Mountain Chickadee

Mountain Bluebird

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake

Elk or Wapiti

Western Chorus Frog

American Black Bear

The habitat of the American Black Bear can be found in mountain areas, swamps and forests.
The black bear is a carnivore and it is an omnivore and most of its diet is of plants, twigs, buds, leaves, nuts, roots, fruit, corn and berries but it also eats bees, honey and will tear up the rotting logs to get grubs. They also eat beetles and insects. The black bear also catches fishes.

The American Black Bear spend all winter season sleeping in their dens, living on body fat they have built up by eating ravenously all summer and fall.

Mountain Chickadee

The mountain chickadee lives in evergreen forests. For nesting they seek out open Aspen trees for their soft wood.
Mountain Chickadee eat oil, sunflower seeds, suet and peanut butter.
The Mountain Chickadee nest in tree cavities. They are not able to build their own nest so they use abandoned woodpecker holes.

Mountain Bluebird

Mountain bluebird breeds in high mountain meadows with scattered trees and bushes and short grass.
Food is mealworms, fruit, berries, insects, and suet.

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake live in moist areas and near water such as ponds, damp meadows, and open grassland forests.
they eat a lot of things like insects, slugs, leeches, and worms

Elk or Wapiti

Elk used to live in most of North America, but were killed off and moved to reservations mainly in Western North America. They are usually in large, flat, open, grassy meadows.
They are herbivores and eat mainly grass though they eat many herbaceous plants too.
An elk has a special stomach to digest all the food it takes in. An elk's stomach actually has four parts.

Western Chorus Frog

Western chorus frogs stick to mostly permanent freshwater areas, such as marshes, river swamps, meadows, grassy pools, and other open areas found
Western Chorus Frog's favorite bugs to eat are thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, flies and ants. They also frequently eat spiders, worms and tiny snails.

Birds

Six common birds in the Montane, oak-shrubland ecosystem consist of the Northern Goshawk, the Cooper’s hawk, the Great horned owl, the Raven, the Gray jay, and the Wild Turkey.

Northern Goshawk

The Northern Goshawk lives in North America and Eurasia in forests, dense woods, and mature forests. It eats large birds, rabbits, squirrels, and hares. It must adapt to maneuvering through the thick vegetation of the woods, crashing through it willingly. It also builds huge, bowl-shaped nests out of sticks, bark, and greenery, inside of large trees.

The Northern Goshawk’s name come from the old English words “gos” which means goose, and hafoc which means “hawk”.
In French, you say Northern Goshawk like this: Autour des Palombes and in Spanish it’s: Gavilán azor.

Cooper’s Hawk

The Cooper’s Hawk lives in leafy greenery, woodlands, forests. It eats chipmunks, squirrels, hares, mice, many birds (though not usually small birds), and bats. It must adapt to flying through dense tree canopies, therefore being very skillful flyers. It builds its nests on big tree branches mostly out of sticks, but it’s lined with bark flakes and green twigs. It usually takes about two weeks to build a nest.

20 years and 4 months is the longest recorded lifespan of the Cooper’s Hawk.
One of the unique hunting skills that they have is drowning their prey.

Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl lives in almost all of North America’s open spaces. In deserts, cities, wetlands, backyards, grasslands, forests, and between the tropics and the Arctic and almost anywhere with semi-open spaces. They mainly eat mammals and birds. They usually hunt nocturnally, though they sometimes hunt in bright daylight. They adapt to facing threats by hissing and screaming. They also build their nests in trees, though they usually settle into nests that were built by other species or they nest in tree cavities.

They can turn their heads 270 degrees around.

Feathers on their face direct sound waves to their ears.

Raven

Ravens live in the Northern Hemisphere in grasslands, beaches, deserts, islands, mountains, fields, forests, tundra, and ice floes. They are very good around humans too. Ravens will eat almost anything they can get. They eat dead flesh of animals, small animals, baby tortoises, some insects, Rock Pigeons, Great Blue Herons, fish, berries, dog and wolf feces, grains, buds, garbage, picnic tables, and pet food. Female Ravens build their nests out of wire and bones. They build their nests on cliffs, telephone poles, towers, bridges, and trees.

Ravens can copy bird calls as well as human words. One Raven born in captivity learned to speak, “nevermore” which is a famous poem called “The Raven.”
They will eat pretty much anything.

Gray Jay

Gray Jays live in the subalpine forests of North America. They eat berries, birds, fungi, insects, and small mammals. They also rob nests, eat dead animals and eat human scraps. They stay with their mate for their entire life and adapt to building nests in trees. They make their nests out of sticks, twigs, bark, and lichens, then they line it with feathers and fur.

In winter, its feathers fluff up and cover its legs and nostrils.
They save their food by using their saliva to glue food to tree branches.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkeys live in all forty nine states except Alaska. They live in areas of Mexico, and parts of Canada. They live in mature and humid forests. They eat mostly plants, nuts, and some fruits. The Wild Turkeys make their nests in the ground. The females dig a large hole into the soil, and then line it with dead shrubbery. Wild Turkeys sleep in tree limbs for the night and like to roost within their flocks.

Turkeys can swim if needed to. They spread their tails and kick their legs.
When chicks get older, they form groups sometimes as large as 200 other chicks.

Human Impact

In the semi-desert areas of the Montane, oak-shrubland ecosystem, humans use its areas for cattle to graze. Humans sometimes use these areas for agricultural use. Its oak trees are cut down and used for firewood and posts.

Threats

One threat is when large herds of mule deer come to graze. It severely damages shrubs and plants. Fire is also a big threat. Leaving, of course, dead and burnt shrubs. Most plants damaged by fire grow back very slowly.