Name:
Quercus alba - Carya glabra - Fraxinus americana / Cercis canadensis / Muhlenbergia sobolifera - Elymus hystrix Forest
Reference:
Eastern Ecology Working Group of...
Description:
Found in the Triassic Basin and western Piedmont foothills of Virginia and Maryland, this subxeric to submesic oak-hickory forest occurs in association with soils weathered from fine-grained mafic rocks (diabase and metabasalt). These soils often have a plastic, hardpan subsoil or are shallow over bedrock, and some have pronounced shrink-swell properties. Forest canopies can be open to closed, sometimes stunted, with variable combinations of oaks (Quercus alba, Quercus rubra), hickories (Carya glabra, Carya ovalis, Carya alba), and Fraxinus americana. Subcanopy tree layers are usually dominated by young hickories and Fraxinus americana. Characteristic species in the shrub and small-tree layers are Cercis canadensis var. canadensis, Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana, Cornus florida, Ulmus rubra, Celtis occidentalis, and Rosa carolina. Less constant, but sometimes locally important, understory species include Ostrya virginiana, Carpinus caroliniana (on more mesic sites), and Chionanthus virginicus. The herb layer of this community is frequently characterized by patch-dominance of the dry-site forest grasses Muhlenbergia sobolifera, Dichanthelium boscii, Elymus hystrix var. hystrix, and Danthonia spicata. Co-occurring among the dominant grasses are a large number of low-cover forbs and graminoids. In Virginia plot samples, this unit has a mean species richness of 82 taxa per 400 square meters, one of the highest among all classified types in Virginia. This community is distinguished from other Mid-Atlantic region oak-hickory forests by its patch-dominance of forest grasses and its strong association with sub-level topography and soils with an impermeable hardpan or shallow bedrock.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28290.QUERCUSALBACARY
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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