Name:
Quercus alba - Fagus grandifolia / Hydrangea quercifolia - Viburnum acerifolium / Carex picta - Polystichum acrostichoides Forest
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This association includes mesic beech - white oak forests of the Cumberland Plateau of Alabama. This forest occurs on low, sheltered slopes, and along small streams in narrow ravines, and on small, well-drained stream terraces and flats, usually over acid to subacid soils. This is a deciduous forest with a well-developed canopy and subcanopy, a variable shrub layer, and an open to sparse herbaceous layer. The canopy is always dominated by Quercus alba with codominance by Fagus grandifolia and/or Liriodendron tulipifera. Some examples may have large individuals of Pinus taeda blending in from forests on adjacent, higher slopes, or as an artifact of past disturbance. Species most typically abundant in the subcanopy include Ostrya virginiana, Acer barbatum, Magnolia macrophylla, and Ilex opaca. Common vines are Decumaria barbara, Smilax rotundifolia, and Toxicodendron radicans. The most typically abundant shrubs are Hydrangea quercifolia, Euonymus americana, and Viburnum acerifolium. Herbaceous composition varies from site to site. The most abundant and constant species are Carex picta, Polystichum acrostichoides, Solidago caesia, and Brachyelytrum erectum. The diagnostic characters of this community include the dominance of Quercus alba in association with mesic hardwood species (Fagus grandifolia, Liriodendron tulipifera, Tilia americana var. heterophylla, Magnolia acuminata), the mesic environment on protected slopes and in narrow ravines, and the occurrence of a suite of species indicative of the Alabama Cumberland Plateau, e.g., Hydrangea quercifolia, Magnolia macrophylla, Styrax grandifolius, Carex picta, and Decumaria barbara.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.27492.QUERCUSALBAFAGU
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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