Name:
Populus tremuloides - Quercus spp. - Salix spp. Shrubland Alliance
Reference:
Midwestern Ecology Working Group...
Description:
This alliance, found in the northern tallgrass prairie-forest border and pine barrens regions of Minnesota, Manitoba, and Wisconsin, is comprised of upland brush prairies. The vegetation has variable amounts of low, brushy trees and shrubs in an herbaceous matrix of prairie species. The brush layer is generally less than 1.5 m tall, with total cover ranging from 30-50%. In northwestern Minnesota and Manitoba, Canada, the major shrub species are Salix petiolaris, Salix discolor, Betula pumila, and Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda (= Pentaphylloides floribunda) in wetter stands, Salix bebbiana in moist stands, Amelanchier alnifolia and Prunus virginiana in somewhat drier stands, and Salix humilis in dry stands. Populus tremuloides suckers or saplings often form dense thickets in this alliance; grubs and stunted trees of Quercus macrocarpa are common in dry stands. The dominant grasses are Andropogon gerardii and Sporobolus heterolepis in all stands, Schizachyrium scoparium, Koeleria macrantha, and Hesperostipa spartea (= Stipa spartea) in drier stands, and Calamagrostis stricta ssp. inexpansa (= Calamagrostis inexpansa), Spartina pectinata, and Muhlenbergia richardsonis in more moist stands. Many mesic tallgrass prairie associates are also found, including Liatris aspera, Dalea purpurea, Oligoneuron rigidum (= Solidago rigida), Pycnanthemum virginianum, Symphyotrichum ericoides (= Aster ericoides), Helianthus maximiliani, and Amorpha canescens, as are a few species more typical of woodland, including Sanicula marilandica, Smilax lasioneura, Apocynum androsaemifolium, and Carex pensylvanica. In the pine barrens region only the drier portions of this alliance are found. Quercus ellipsoidalis is also more common there. This alliance occurs on somewhat poorly drained to well-drained, sandy clay loams to loamy fine sands to coarser outwash sands. The communities are fire-dependent. In the absence of fires, trees become more abundant, and the stands eventually succeed to aspen - oak woodland. In Wisconsin, this alliance may be most extensive where frequent fires have reduced the oak stands in the pine barrens region to grub form.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.19707.POPULUSTREMULOI
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
|
