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O r e g o n ’s B o t a n i c a l L a n d s c a p e An ... · ash, black cottonwood, alder, and...
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30 60 mi 0 60 120 km 0 15 30 Eastern Cascades Slopes Cascades Willamette Valley Coast Range Klamath Mountains Northern Basin and Range Columbia Plateau Blue Mountains Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley contains terraces and floodplains of the Willamette River, as well as some scattered hills, buttes, and adjacent foothills. Originally, it was covered by prairies, oak savanna, coniferous forests, extensive wetlands, and deciduous riparian forests. Elevations and relief are lower, annual rainfall is less, and the vegetation mosaic is different from the coniferous forests of surrounding ecoregions. The Willamette River historically meandered across the broad floodplain, and had numerous braided shallow channels. Riparian gallery forests contained ash, black cottonwood, alder, and bigleaf maple. Set fires helped maintain the prairies and Oregon white oak savanna. Cascades The Cascades are volcanic, with some areas glaciated. Oregon Cascade peaks reach elevations up to 11,239 feet. The western Cascades are dissected by many steep-sided stream valleys. They have a moist, temperate climate and extensive coniferous forests. Subalpine meadows and rocky alpine zones occur at high elevations. Eastern Cascades Slopes In the rainshadow of the Cascade Range, this region has greater temperature extremes and less precipitation than ecoregions to the west. Open forests of ponderosa pine and some lodgepole pine differ from the higher ecoregions to the west where hemlock and fir forests are common, and the lower, drier ecoregions to the east where shrubs and grasslands occur. The vegetation is adapted to the drier, more continental climate and frequent fire. Columbia Plateau This dry, sagebrush steppe and grassland is flanked by mostly forested, mountainous ecoregions. It is underlain by volcanic basalt rocks up to two miles thick. Some areas are covered by thick loess soils that once supported lush prairies. Blue Mountains This region is a complex of mountain ranges that are lower and more open than the neighboring Cascades and Northern Rockies. Like the Cascades, but unlike the Northern Rockies, the Blue Mountains are mostly volcanic. However, the core of the Blue Mountains and the highest ranges, the Wallowa and Elkhorn Mountains, are composed of intrusive granites, deep sea sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. The flora is transitional between the Eastern Cascades Slopes and the western Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana. Sagebrush and grassland steppes occurred at lower elevations, western juniper and ponderosa pine characterize mid-elevations, and mixed coniferous forests are at higher elevations. Alpine meadows, snowfields, tarns, and glacial rock basins characterize the high Wallowa Mountains. Coast Range The low mountains of the Coast Range are covered by rain-drenched evergreen forests. Sitka spruce originally dominated the fog-shrouded coast, while a mosaic of western redcedar, western hemlock, and Douglas-fir blanketed inland areas. Hemlock is often the climax species unless fire opens the canopy for shade-intolerant Douglas-fir. Coast redwood is found in the far south. Volcanic and sedimentary rocks occur. Klamath Mountains The highly dissected ridges, foothills, and valleys of the Klamath and Siskiyou mountains were unglaciated during the Pleistocene epoch, when the region served as a refuge for northern plant species. Its mix of granitic, sedimentary, metamorphic, and extrusive rocks contrasts with the mostly volcanic rocks of the Cascades. The mild, subhumid climate of the Klamath Mountains has a lengthy summer drought. It supports a mosaic of both northern Californian and P a c i f i c Northwestern conifers and hardwoods. Northern Basin and Range The Northern Basin and Range contains dissected lava plains, rolling hills, alluvial fans, valleys, and scattered mountains. The natural vegetation is sagebrush steppe, with cool season grasses, such as Idaho fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass. Juniper-dominated woodland occurs on rugged, stony uplands. Most of the region is used as rangeland. Minor cropland is found locally, but, in general, soils are less suitable for agriculture than those in the Columbia Plateau. In Oregon, the western two-thirds of the region is internally drained. Blue Mountain Lupines Pastel, 12x9 inches Summerville, Oregon High Grasslands, Pastel, 8x11 inches, Pendleton, Oregon The Alkali Shore Pastel, 12x18 inches Summer Lake, Oregon Mt. Washington: South-Side Pastel and watercolor, 8x11 inches Path on McKenzie Pass, Oregon Antelope-Brush in a Ponderosa Pine Forest Pastel, 16x11 inches Sprague River, Oregon Wetland Under an August Sky Oil, 14x25 inches Near Corvallis, Oregon Oregon Grape by the Illinois River, Pastel, 11x15 inches, Cave Junction, Oregon Sentinel Pastel and watercolor, 18x12 inches, near Bandon, Oregon Tiger Lilies and Doug-Fir Giants Pastel, 13x12 inches, near Coast Range/Willamette Valley ecoregion boundary Home of the Owyhee Clover Pastel and watercolor, 14x19 inches Leslie Gulch, Oregon Ecoregions are areas of similar ecosystems and contain similar types and quality of environmental resources. They are mapped by analyzing biotic and abiotic features, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife distributions, and hydrology. Oregon is ecologically diverse. The west side of the state has a marine-influenced climate and receives abundant precipitation three seasons of the year. In contrast, eastern Oregon lies in the rain shadow of the Cascades and is drier. The climatic gradient is evident in the state's landscapes: beaches, wetlands, forested mountains, agricultural valleys, glaciated peaks, shrub- and grass-covered plains, and desert playas. Presented here are eight ecoregions of Oregon, and each of these continue into similar parts of adjacent states. The ecoregion map is derived from a more detailed product developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior–Geological Survey . All paintings by M. Frances Stilwell. Map and poster design: Glenn Griffith, Blue Heron Graphics, Corvallis, Oregon. An Exhibition of Artwork by M. Frances Stilwell May 6th - June 4th, 2011 Tuesday - Saturday, 10AM - 4:30PM Benton County Historical Society and Museum - Moreland Gallery 1101 Main Street, Philomath, Oregon 97370 www.bentoncountymuseum.org Phone 541-929-6230 Opening Reception: Friday, May 6th, 5:00 PM - 7:00PM Oregon’s Botanical Landscape Native Plants Painted in Their Home Environments in Eight Ecoregions of Oregon An Opportunity to Imagine Oregon Before 1800
Transcript of O r e g o n ’s B o t a n i c a l L a n d s c a p e An ... · ash, black cottonwood, alder, and...
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60 120 km0
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Eastern Cascades
Slopes
Cascades
WillametteValley
Coast Range
KlamathMountains
Northern Basin and Range
C o l u m b i a P l a t e a u
B l u e M o u n t a i n s
W i l l a m e t t e V a l l e yThe Willamette Valley contains terraces and floodplains of the Willamette River, as well as some scattered hills, buttes, and adjacent foothills. Originally, it was covered by prairies, oak savanna, coniferous forests, extensive wetlands, and deciduous riparian forests. Elevations and relief are lower, annual rainfall is less, and the vegetation mosaic is different from the coniferous forests of surrounding ecoregions. The Willamette River historically meandered across the broad floodplain, and had numerous braided shallow channels. Riparian gallery forests contained ash, black cottonwood, alder, and bigleaf maple. Set fires helped maintain the prairies and Oregon white oak savanna.
C a s c a d e sThe Cascades are volcanic, with some areas glaciated. Oregon Cascade peaks reach elevations up to 11,239 feet. The western Cascades are dissected by many steep-sided stream valleys. They have a moist, temperate climate and extensive coniferous forests. Subalpine meadows and rocky alpine zones occur at high elevations.
Eastern Cascades SlopesIn the rainshadow of the Cascade Range, this region has greater temperature extremes and less precipitation than ecoregions to the west. Open forests of ponderosa pine and some lodgepole pine differ from the higher ecoregions to the west where hemlock and fir forests are common, and the lower, drier ecoregions to the east where shrubs and grasslands occur. The vegetation is adapted to the drier, more continental climate and frequent fire.
C o l u m b i a P l a t e a uThis dry, sagebrush steppe and grassland is flanked by mostly forested, mountainous ecoregions. It is underlain by volcanic basalt rocks up to two miles thick. Some areas are covered by thick loess soils that once s u p p o r t e d lush prairies.
B l u e M o u n t a i n sThis region is a complex of mountain ranges that are lower and more open than the neighboring Cascades and Northern Rockies. Like the Cascades, but unlike the Northern Rockies, the Blue Mountains are mostly volcanic. However, the core of the Blue Mountains and the highest ranges, the Wallowa and Elkhorn Mountains, are composed of intrusive granites, deep sea sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. The flora is transitional between the Eastern Cascades Slopes and the western Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana. Sagebrush and grassland steppes occurred at lower elevations, western juniper and ponderosa pine characterize mid-elevations, and mixed coniferous forests are at higher elevations. Alpine meadows, snowfields, tarns, and glacial rock basins characterize the high Wallowa Mountains.
C o a s t R a n g eThe low mountains of the Coast Range are covered by rain-drenched evergreen forests. Sitka spruce originally dominated the fog-shrouded coast, while a mosaic of western redcedar, western hemlock, and Douglas-fir blanketed inland areas. Hemlock is often the climax species unless fire opens the canopy for shade-intolerant Douglas-fir. Coast redwood is found in the far
south. Volcanic and sedimentary rocks occur.
K l a m a t h M o u n t a i n sThe highly dissected ridges, foothills, and valleys of the Klamath and Siskiyou mountains were unglaciated during the Pleistocene epoch, when the region served as a refuge for northern plant species. Its mix of granitic, sedimentary, metamorphic, and extrusive rocks contrasts with the mostly volcanic rocks of the Cascades. The mild, subhumid climate of the Klamath Mountains has a lengthy summer drought. It supports a mosaic of both northern Californian and P a c i f i c N o r t h w e s t e r n conifers and hardwoods.
Northern Basin and RangeThe Northern Basin and Range contains dissected lava plains, rolling hills, alluvial fans, valleys, and scattered mountains. The natural vegetation is sagebrush steppe, with cool season grasses, such as Idaho fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass. Juniper-dominated woodland occurs on rugged, stony uplands. Most of the region is used as rangeland. Minor cropland is found locally, but, in general, soils are less suitable for agriculture than those in the Columbia Plateau. In Oregon, the western two-thirds of the region is internally drained.
Blue Mountain LupinesPastel, 12x9 inches Summerville, Oregon
High Grasslands, Pastel, 8x11 inches, Pendleton, Oregon
The Alkali Shore Pastel, 12x18 inches Summer Lake, Oregon
Mt. Washington: South-SidePastel and watercolor, 8x11 inches
Path on McKenzie Pass, Oregon
Antelope-Brush in a Ponderosa Pine Forest
Pastel, 16x11 inchesSprague River, Oregon
Wetland Under an August SkyOil, 14x25 inches
Near Corvallis, Oregon
Oregon Grape by the Illinois River, Pastel, 11x15 inches, Cave Junction, Oregon
SentinelPastel and
watercolor, 18x12 inches, near Bandon,
Oregon
Tiger Lilies and Doug-Fir Giants Pastel, 13x12 inches,
near Coast Range/Willamette Valley ecoregion boundary
Home of the Owyhee CloverPastel and watercolor, 14x19 inches Leslie Gulch, Oregon
Ecoregions are areas of similar ecosystems and contain similar types and quality of environmental resources. They are mapped by analyzing biotic and abiotic features, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife distributions, and hydrology.Oregon is ecologically diverse. The west side of the state has a marine-influenced climate and receives abundant precipitation three seasons of the year. In contrast, eastern Oregon lies in the rain shadow of the Cascades and is drier. The climatic gradient is evident in the state's landscapes: beaches, wetlands, forested mountains, agricultural valleys, glaciated peaks, shrub- and grass-covered plains, and desert playas. Presented here are eight ecoregions of Oregon, and each of these continue into similar parts of adjacent states.The ecoregion map is derived from a more detailed product developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior–Geological Survey.All paintings by M. Frances Stilwell.
Map and poster design: Glenn Griffith, Blue Heron Graphics, Corvallis, Oregon.
An Exhibition of Artwork by M. Frances StilwellMay 6th - June 4th, 2011
Tuesday - Saturday, 10AM - 4:30PMBenton County Historical Society and Museum - Moreland Gallery
1101 Main Street, Philomath, Oregon 97370www.bentoncountymuseum.org
Phone 541-929-6230
Opening Reception: Friday, May 6th, 5:00 PM - 7:00PM
O r e g o n ’ s B o t a n i c a l L a n d s c a p eNative Plants Painted in Their Home Environments in Eight Ecoregions of Oregon
An Opportunity to Imagine Oregon Before 1800
