Name:
Picea rubens - Betula alleghaniensis Forest Alliance
Reference:
Eastern Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
Forests with mixed deciduous/evergreen canopies, dominated by Picea rubens and Betula alleghaniensis, occurring from the maritime provinces of Canada, through northern New England and eastern New York, south to the High Alleghenies, and high elevations in the northern Ridge and Valley and Southern Blue Ridge. This alliance includes forests transitional between northern hardwoods and spruce - fir forests, as well as successional forests resulting from the death of Abies fraseri due to the Balsam Woolly Adelgid. Picea rubens is usually the most abundant conifer, with lesser amounts of Abies balsamea, in the north, and Abies fraseri, in the southern portion of the range. Betula alleghaniensis is usually the most abundant deciduous tree, although other deciduous species, such as Fagus grandifolia and, in the southern Appalachians, Aesculus flava, can be prominent constituents. Associated species vary with geography, but include Acer spicatum, Acer pensylvanicum, Acer saccharum, Oclemena acuminata (= Aster acuminatus), Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris carthusiana (= Dryopteris spinulosa), Dryopteris intermedia, Dryopteris campyloptera, Ilex montana, Menziesia pilosa, Oxalis montana, Rugelia nudicaulis, Rhododendron catawbiense, Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa (= Sambucus racemosa var. pubens), Solidago glomerata, Trillium undulatum, Vaccinium erythrocarpum, and Viburnum lantanoides (= Viburnum alnifolium). Forests of this alliance generally occur on midslopes, with soils ranging from somewhat poorly drained to well-drained. Forests of this alliance in the White Mountains and Green Mountains in New England were noted to occur on soils derived from compact till and ablational till consisting of metamorphic schist and gneiss. Forests in this alliance tend to be on moister sites than deciduous forests dominated by northern hardwood species.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.20017.PICEARUBENSBETU
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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