Quantitative data were collected in 101 vegetational stands in two regions considered to be representative of dune sand vegetation within the grassland zone of Saskatchewan. The purpose was to ascertain species distributional patterns and to attempt to relate these distributions to environmental factors. The data were used to establish two ordinations, one based on physiographic types and the other on compositional similarities between the stands. Areas of active erosion and deposition are dominated by rhizomatous species, particularly Agropyron spp. and Psoralea lanceolata. Juniperus horizontalis is prominent in stabilized blowouts, while stabilized dunes support grassland dominated by Stipa comata, Carex eleocharis, and Koeleria cristata. The most mesic sites, dune depressions and sand flats, are occupied by Carex heliophila and Agropyron spp. with a shrubby overstory of Symphoricarpos occidentalis, Rosa woodsii, and Prunus virginiana. Factorial gradients involved in the distributional patterns include a moisture gradient ranging from xeric to mesic and a stability gradient ranging from active complexes to stabilized areas. The existence of these gradients and the intergradation of the species behavioral patterns offer strong evidence of the continuous nature of dune sand vegetation in Saskatchewan.

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