Dixie Butte PRNA

Dixie Butte Proposed Research Natural Area (pRNA) was selected to represent alpine plant communities in the Blue Mountains. The pRNA is located on a high elevation mountain summit with steep slopes and rocky substrates. Subalpine shrub / steppe and herbaceous plant associations are dominated by mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. Vaseyana), Geyer's sedge (Carex geyeri), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), and littleleaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius). A subalpine fir/Engelmann spruce (Abies lasiocarpa /Picea engelmannii) forest and small patches of barren talus cover the remaining pRNA.   Some whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is also present.