Name:
Clethra alnifolia - Toxicodendron vernix / Aristida stricta - Osmunda cinnamomea - Sarracenia spp. Shrub Herbaceous Vegetation
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This type covers seepage-fed herbaceous or shrub-herb wetlands of sandhills terrain found primarily in the Sandhills region but present in scarps and sand ridges elsewhere in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina and South Carolina. These are generally small areas on slopes, but can occur at slope bases where water is forced to the surface by a clay layer and soil conditions are permanently saturated. These communities are rare in the North Carolina Sandhills and on Fort Bragg and Camp MacKall, where they are usually found in high-moisture, open-canopied transitional areas located between streams (or impoundments) and seepage-fed slopes. The permanently saturated conditions of these sites most likely help to retard shrub and tree encroachment. Dominant species include Sarracenia flava, Sphagnum spp., Carex exilis, Rhynchospora stenophylla, Danthonia epilis, Xyris fimbriata, Xyris chapmanii, Eupatorium resinosum, and Rhexia spp. Sandhill seeps consist of a dense to open growth of various wetland shrubs and herbs, or mixtures of wetland and upland species, with structure determined by fire regime. Common shrubs include Clethra alnifolia, Lyonia lucida, Photinia pyrifolia (= Aronia arbutifolia), Ilex glabra, Gaylussacia frondosa, Symplocos tinctoria, Morella caroliniensis (= Myrica heterophylla), and Toxicodendron vernix. A variety of other shrubs may be present in some sites. Arundinaria gigantea ssp. tecta may dominate in places, especially in frequently burned sites. Osmunda cinnamomea often dominates annually burned sites. Canopy species include Pinus serotina, Pinus palustris, and Liquidambar styraciflua. Acer rubrum, Magnolia virginiana, and Persea palustris are often present in the midstory. Herbs are sparse under shrub cover but may dominate frequently burned sites. Typical herbs include Osmunda cinnamomea, Xyris caroliniana, Pteridium aquilinum, Woodwardia virginica, Dichanthelium spp., Andropogon glomeratus, Ctenium aromaticum, Sarracenia flava, Sarracenia purpurea, Sarracenia rubra, Drosera capillaris, Rhexia alifanus, Polygala lutea, Eupatorium pilosum, and Aristida stricta. Sphagnum spp. are common. On frequently burned sites a great diversity of other herbs may also be present. Community structure is strongly controlled by fire regime. Because of their small size, Sandhill Seeps are subject to fires spreading from adjacent sandhill communities, and under natural fire regimes they probably burned more frequently than other similarly wet communities. At least parts of them burned almost as frequently as the adjoining sandhill communities. Under frequent fire Sandhill seeps are open and herb-dominated. In the absence of fire shrubs quickly expand and the vegetation becomes pocosin-like. The nutrient dynamics of these communities are not known. The presence of clay in the soil may allow greater retention of nutrients than in sandy soils, although the seepage is likely to be very low in nutrients. Like other small communities in sandhill areas, nutrients mobilized by fire may be available to Sandhill seeps even if they do not themselves burn. These communities are distinguished by the occurrence of wetland vegetation on seepage slopes. The boundary with Streamhead Pocosin may be difficult to determine in some areas. In infrequently burned areas where both are shrubby, Sandhill seeps may be recognized by partial or total isolation from a stream system, location on a sharp slope break, or by remnants of the herbaceous vegetation beneath the shrubs. Herb-dominated Sandhill seeps may be distinguished by their occurrence on relatively small, sloping, seepage-fed areas in sandhills.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.20234.CLETHRAALNIFOLI
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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