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Sedimentary Subalpine Zone

Ecoregion in Rocky Mountains in WY, ID, MT

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The Sedimentary Subalpine Zone ecoregion is found southeast of Yellowstone National Park, in the overthrust belt, and in the northwest corner of the Bighorn Mountains in areas underlain by faulted and folded Mesozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone). Elevations range between 8,500 feet and 10,000 feet. Relatively high precipitation amounts, areas of heavy snowpack, and snow with high water content provide enough moisture to support spruce-fir forest on the normally droughty sedimentary substrates. Potential natural vegetation includes subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce, with lodgepole pine as a seral species. However, tree growth is limited in fine-grained shale-derived soils which results in a landscape that alternates between forest groves and open grassy slopes.

— EPA

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