The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Setting

This ecoregion is located mainly in western Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, but also in eastern and central Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, central Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, northeastern Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. It is centered on the Yellowstone Plateau

Yellowstone Plateau

The Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field is a geological feature found in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is a popular site for tourists.The plateau developed through three volcanic cycles spanning two million years that included some of the world's largest known eruptions...

, extending outward on connected mountain ranges, but the ecoregion also includes the isolated Bighorn Mountains and Black Hills

Black Hills

The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...

, as well as smaller isolated ranges in central Montana. The area has a dry continental climate, with brief summers and long, cold winters.

Flora

The ecoregion is predominantly coniferous forest, dominated by lodgepole pine

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

 (Pinus contorta subsp. latifolia) due to relatively recent major fires in the area. Other trees include Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir

The Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca, is an evergreen conifer native to the interior mountainous regions of western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta in Canada southward through the United States to the far north of Mexico...

 (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

). Whitebark pine

Whitebark Pine

Pinus albicaulis, known commonly as Whitebark Pine, Pitch Pine, Scrub Pine, and Creeping Pine occurs in the mountains of the Western United States and Canada, specifically the subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Pacific Coast Ranges, and the northern Rocky Mountains –...

 (Pinus albicaulis) is an important species at the upper tree line/krummholz

Krummholz

Krummholz or Krumholtz formation — also called Knieholz — is a particular feature of subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes. Continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds causes vegetation to become stunted and deformed...

 zone. This ecoregion also contains mountain meadow

Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...

s, foothills grasslands, riparian woodlands, and alpine tundra

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

. In some areas, geothermal activity creates distinct, warm habitats with unique floral communities.

Fauna

Mammals of this ecoregion include bison

Plains Bison

The Plains Bison or Common bison is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American Bison, the other being the Wood Bison . Furthermore, it has been suggested that the Plains Bison consists of a northern and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three...

 (Bison bison bison), grizzly bear

Grizzly Bear

The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

 (Ursus arctos horriblus), cougar (Puma concolor), bobcat

Bobcat

The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

 (Lunx rufus), gray wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

 (Canis lupus), coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

 (Canis latrans), elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

 (Cervus canadensis), mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

 (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn sheep

Bighorn Sheep

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...

 (Ovis canadensis) and hare

Hare

Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...

.

Conservation status and protected areas

Though large portions of this ecoregion are protected, its conservation status is listed as "vulnerable". Indiscriminate logging of unprotected areas and the deaths of grizzly bears and possibly wolves by ungulate hunters are the main threats to this ecoregion's integrity. Protected areas include Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 in northwestern Wyoming, south-central Montana and eastern Idaho, Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...

 in western Wyoming, Cloud Peak Wilderness

Cloud Peak Wilderness

The Cloud Peak Wilderness is located in north central Wyoming in the United States. Entirely within Bighorn National Forest, the wilderness was established in 1984 in an effort to preserve the wildest section of the Bighorn Mountains...

 in north-central Wyoming, and Black Elk Wilderness

Black Elk Wilderness

The Black Elk Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The wilderness was designated by an act of Congress in 1980. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Black Elk Wilderness is part of Black Hills National Forest. This 13,426 acre region is considered sacred to Native Americans,...

in southwestern South Dakota.