Young+trees-smaller

At this ecotone, or boundary, between sagebrush steppe and conifer woodlands in Beaverhead County in southwest Montana, these young Douglas fir have slowly grown up between perennial shrubs and grasses. Given enough time, more conifers will grow here and out-compete the sagebrush steppe vegetation, converting this landscape fully to woodland. This ecotone was historically mediated by frequent low-intensity wildfires.