Pacific Northwest Natural Areas
 

 

 


 

Round Top Butte Research Natural Area

Medford District , BLM

Klamath Mountains Ecoregion

Cell(s):

  • Oregon white oak savanna or open woodland with forb or grasses
  • Ponderosa pine-white oak woodland
  • Bluebunch wheatgrass-California oatgrass-Lemmon's needlegrass slopes
  • Tufted hairgrass-California oatgrass bottomland seasonally flooded prairie

Round Top Butte Research Natural Area

 

 

Round Top Butte RNA is located in the Rogue Valley 9.7 km northeast of Eagle Point in Jackson County, Oregon. The 243 ha site represents native grasslands and oak woodlands of low elevation southern Oregon foothills. Its gently sloping terrain ranges from 756 to 908 m in elevation. Soil series include McNull, Medco, Carney, Geppert, and McMullin. The climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters, with annual precipitation of 76 cm. The abundance of native bunchgrasses, including California oatgrass (Danthonia californica), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), and Lemmon's needlegrass (Achnatherum lemmonii), indicates that the site has not been overgrazed. The bunchgrasses also grow in the understory of the manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida) and wedgeleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus cuneatus) chaparral that grows in mosaic with the savanna, which comprises Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) and California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) interspersed with ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Depending on soil texture and depth, the understory is dominated by Idaho fescue or California oatgrass. Scattered pockets of mixed conifer woodland, including Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), and sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), grow where soil depth and soil moisture are adequate. Understory species include California fescue (Festuca californica), western fescue (Festuca occidentalis), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), dwarf Oregon grape (Berberis nervosa), and whipplea (Whipplea modesta). Although the RNA was established for its native grassland as low elevation deer and elk winter range, the grassland contains some weedy non-native grasses. Little disturbance has taken place in the woodlands or forest areas, though there was once a homestead on the "Stanley parcel" in the southeast quarter of the section. The Nature Conservancy owns a 57 ha parcel north of Round Top RNA, which is managed as Round Top Preserve and includes the south-facing slope of Round Top Mountain.

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Access by gravel and 4WD dirt roads