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Northern Front

Ecoregion in Rocky Mountains, MT

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The Northern Front is a rugged, forested, mountainous ecoregion lying east of the Continental Divide. Its climate is more continentally influenced than the Western Canadian Rockies (41c). Groundwater levels are extremely variable but are typically deeper than west of the Continental Divide. The ecoregion was glaciated, and drift deposits, colluvium, hummocky morainal areas, U-shaped valleys, pothole lakes-wetlands, and poorly developed drainage networks are common. Outcrops of Precambrian Belt rock occur and are distinctly different from those of the Southern Carbonate Front (41d). Climax vegetation is subalpine fir and Douglas-fir forests and differs from that of the neighboring Foothill Grassland (42r), Rocky Mountain Front Foothill Potholes (42q), Crestal Alpine-Subalpine Zone (41b), and Western Canadian Rockies (41c). The eastern boundary of Ecoregion 41a coincides with lower timberline and ranges from 4,500 to 5,000 feet elevation. Ecoregion 41a extends into Canada.

— EPA

Plants

Common Beargrass Xerophyllum tenax (species), “Bear-Grass”

Northern Front

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