Name:
Nyssa biflora - Acer rubrum - (Liriodendron tulipifera) Saturated Forest Alliance
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
Forests codominated by Nyssa biflora and Acer rubrum occurring on extensive peat flats in the Coastal Plain, in seepage-fed edges of floodplains or on slopes wet by nearly constant seepage. The hydrology is constantly saturated, and soils are acid and organic. Liriodendron tulipifera is a common woody species in these forests, as are Liquidambar styraciflua, Magnolia virginiana, Oxydendrum arboreum, Acer rubrum, Persea palustris, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Quercus laurifolia, Ulmus rubra, Quercus michauxii, Pinus taeda, and Carpinus caroliniana. Some of these forests, particularly those on peat flats, may result from logging of former Chamaecyparis thyoides-dominated swamps. Leucothoe axillaris, Ilex coriacea, Morella caroliniensis (= Myrica heterophylla), Toxicodendron vernix, and Lyonia lucida are common dominants in the shrub layer, with Itea virginica, Clethra alnifolia, Persea palustris, Ilex glabra, Rhododendron flammeum, and Arundinaria gigantea also often present. Sphagnum spp. are common in the ground layer, as well as Carex atlantica ssp. capillacea, Carex bromoides ssp. bromoides, Saururus cernuus, Boehmeria cylindrica, Osmunda cinnamomea, Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Hydrocotyle verticillata var. verticillata, Woodwardia areolata, Macbridea caroliniana, Sagittaria fasciculata, Ludwigia palustris, and Mitchella repens. These forests occur in the Piedmont on small to medium streams on seepage-fed edges where there is more Acer rubrum than Nyssa biflora, in the Ridge and Valley of Georgia and in the East Gulf Coastal Plain on slopes in a longleaf pine-dominated upland. Examples of forests in this alliance are known from the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Virginia to Georgia, the Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama, the East Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi, and likely other adjacent states as well.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.19399.NYSSABIFLORAACE
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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