Location, Location, Location! When it comes to real estate, location is key…whether you’re a business owner, a home owner, or a plant!

Topography plays a big role in determining what plants will grow in an area. How high is the site? How steep is the slope? What direction is it facing? If you’re a plant, these are some of the questions that have to be answered.

One of the most obvious ways that topography affects plant communities is elevation. As elevation increases, temperatures decrease and precipitation increases.

As a result, we see grasslands and shrub communities at low elevations, forest communities in the mountains, and alpine tundra at the mountain tops.

Aspect, or the direction a slope is facing, is also an important factor. A north or east facing slope is cooler than a south or west facing slope.

So on the same hill, at the same elevation, you may find Idaho Fescue growing on the north slope, and needlegrass growing on the south slope.

Just like some people prefer to live in the warm deserts of the southwest, and others prefer the mountains, there’s a plant out there that’s well suited to the site no matter what the topographical location.

From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I’m Zola Ryan.