Upland tree

#15

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Juniperus scopulorum

Representing the evergreen division... playing in conditions that would retire every other player on this roster... active 365 days a year, zero days off, zero water required after year two... posted on the most hostile south-facing rocky outcrops in the corridor... cutting VPD by 20% even in December... the Iron Man of the Moisture Ribbon — THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN JUNIPER!

Active Year-round

pH range 6.0–8.0

Mix share 15%

Riparian tree

#1 Plains Cottonwood

Populus deltoides

Ladies and gentlemen, please rise. Hailing from the floodplains of the Cache la Poudre River... transpiring ONE HUNDRED gallons of water per day... single-handedly raising local humidity by 15%... pulling the federal government's attention as keystone habitat for the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse... with the highest soil carbon output on the entire roster... The unanimous MVP. The franchise player. THE PLAINS COTTONWOOD!

Transpiration 100 gal/day

Humidity +15%

Growth 6 ft/yr

Riparian tree

#00

Peachleaf Willow

Salix amygdaloides

Installed as a live stake and rooted within ONE growing season... protecting bare banks the moment Russian olive clears the field... cutting sediment load to municipal water intakes by 65%... with a 90% rooting success rate when IBA hormone gets called in off the bench... the fastest emergency responder in the riparian division — PEACHLEAF WILLOW!

Root time 1 season

Sediment ↓65%

Growth 6 ft/yr

Riparian tree

#44

Boxelder

Acer negundo

Taking up the position nobody else wanted — the upper bank tier... too dry for willows, too wet for upland trees... the gap-filler, the glue, the player who makes every other riparian starter better... maintaining 20% higher soil moisture in the transition zone... deer-resistant, flood-tolerant, and keeping the bank profile complete from water's edge to slope... THE BOXELDER!

Soil moisture +20%

Melt delay 9 days

Lifespan 75 yr

Native shrub

#9

Serviceberry

Amelanchier alnifolia

The first to report for spring duty... flowering before any other plant on the roster... providing the only nectar available to native pollinators in early April when everything else is still dormant... then dropping the first berry crop in June... then holding slopes together with a root mat that prevents 40% of annual moisture loss through erosion... The all-season contributor — SERVICEBERRY!

First flower April

First berry June

Slope loss ↓40%

Native shrub

#99

Wax Currant

Ribes cereum

Operating on sites receiving barely 12 inches of rain per year. Reducing surface VPD by 15% per unit of biomass — the highest efficiency ratio on the entire roster. Trapping wind-blown snow on south-facing rocky outcrops where nothing else stands. Starting soil carbon accumulation on sites with previously ZERO organic matter. The smallest player. The longest odds. THE WAX CURRANT!

Min. precip.12 in/yr

VPD ↓/mass Best on roster

Snow trap +20%

Upland tree

#15

Hackberry

Celtis occidentalis

Calling in from the transition zone... the only player on this roster equally comfortable at the riparian edge AND the dry upland margin... surviving both wet feet AND drought years... with a winter berry crop that feeds every bird in the corridor when nothing else is on the menu... your Swiss Army knife of the foothill forest — THE HACKBERRY!

Lifespan 150 yr

Berry season Winter

Mix share15%

Riparian tree

#7

Narrowleaf Cottonwood

Populus angustifolia

Starting at the foothill position... going where Plains Cottonwood dares not follow... up into the rocky, fast-moving creek corridors of the upper Poudre and Big Thompson... lowering stream temperature by 4°F to protect the Greenback Cutthroat Trout... 65 gallons per day of atmospheric moisture recycled at altitude... the high-elevation closer — THE NARROWLEAF COTTONWOOD!

Stream cool 4°F

Transpire 65 gal/day

Elevation 8,000 ft

Riparian tree

#0

Coyote Willow

Salix exigua

Surviving full submergence. Surviving complete scouring. Surviving conditions that would end every other player's career. Hailing from the bare gravel bars where soil essentially does not exist... holding banks together with a fibrous root mat that cuts erosion by 75%... turning a net carbon-loss site into a carbon-gain site in year one... The undisputed pioneer — COYOTE WILLOW!

Flood tol. Full sub.

Erosion ↓75%

Install Live stake

Native shrub

#3

Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana

Working the understory since before the burn scar cooled... suppressing cheatgrass with extreme prejudice... reducing soil evaporation by 55% beneath established clumps... cutting VPD by 18% in the inter-tree zone where seedlings need it most... and delivering the most reliable late-summer berry crop in the corridor every single year... The workhorse. The underdog champion. THE CHOKECHERRY!

Evap. ↓55%

VPD ↓18%

Berry crop Annual

Native shrub

#11

Mountain Mahogany

Cercocarpus montanus

Fixing nitrogen on sites that have had none since the fire... converting atmospheric N₂ into plant-available ammonium at 45 pounds per acre per year... making the soil better for every teammate around it... evergreen year-round, providing winter browse when the whole corridor is bare... the only nitrogen-fixer in the lineup, and irreplaceable on burn scars... THE MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY!

N-fixed 45 lb/ac/yr

Foliage Evergreen

Soil OM +30% / 10yr