Name:
Quercus alba - (Quercus nigra) Forest Alliance
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This alliance includes hardwood forests of the Coastal Plain dominated by Quercus alba. Stands assigned to this alliance are intermediate in moisture status, falling between the most mesic Quercus alba forests (accommodated by alliance A.228) in which Fagus grandifolia is usually codominant, and drier Quercus alba forests (accommodated by A.241) in which Quercus falcata or Quercus stellata is codominant. These forests are found in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of Virginia and North Carolina, westward to the Upper West and West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas and Texas. In most of this range, these forests occur outside the natural distribution of both Quercus rubra and Carya ovata, although Quercus rubra may be present in limited parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain, and Carya ovata may be present in the West Gulf Coastal Plain. While limited amounts of Fagus grandifolia may be present in the most mesic occurrences, examples in which Fagus grandifolia is a dominant species would be accommodated in another alliance as noted above. Quercus nigra is given as a nominal for its value as an indicator species, as the associations in this alliance occur within the range of this species and are likely to contain it, although not necessarily as a canopy codominant. Associated species include Carya alba, Carya glabra, Carya ovalis, Carya pallida, Liquidambar styraciflua, Pinus taeda, Pinus echinata, Quercus velutina, Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus stellata, and Quercus falcata. More mesic occurrences likely will have Fagus grandifolia, Morus rubra, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus pagoda, Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia macrophylla, Hamamelis virginiana, Asimina triloba, Callicarpa americana, Galium spp., Gelsemium sempervirens, Euonymus americana, and Sanicula spp.; while drier examples will be more likely to have Quercus stellata, Prunus serotina var. serotina, Chimaphila maculata, Vaccinium stamineum, and Vaccinium pallidum. Cornus florida, Acer rubrum, and Oxydendrum arboreum are very common in the understory. The herbaceous stratum usually is sparse, and species that may occur include Hexastylis arifolia, Elephantopus spp., Chimaphila maculata, Tephrosia virginiana, Coreopsis major, and Hieracium venosum. Forests in this alliance can occur on a variety of sites including sandy swamp islands, Coastal Plain slopes, ridgetops, and other dry to dry-mesic fire-sheltered areas on acidic to circumneutral soils. This alliance occurs throughout the southeastern Coastal Plain and likely is distributed sparingly in the Piedmont. In this latter ecoregion (generally within the range of Quercus rubra) there could be some difficulty in assignment of associations to alliances (e.g. A.238 vs. A.239).
Accession Code:
VB.CC.17781.QUERCUSALBAQUER
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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