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NY Heritage: Chestnut oak forest | Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
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Name: NY Heritage: Chestnut oak forest
Reference: Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description: A hardwood forest that occurs on well-drained sites in glaciated portions of the Appalachians, and on the coastal plain. This forest is similar to the Allegheny oak forest; it is distinguished by fewer canopy dominants and a less diverse shrublayer and groundlayer flora. Dominant trees are typically chestnut oak (Quercus montana) and red oak (Q. rubra). Common associates are white oak (Q. alba), black oak (Q. velutina), and red maple (Acer rubrum). American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a common associate in these forests prior to the chestnut blight; chestnut sprouts are still found in some stands. The shrublayer is predominantly ericaceous; characteristic shrubs are black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), and blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum). Common groundlayer plants are Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), and cushions of the moss Leucobryum glaucum. At least three edaphic variants with different understory dominants are known: 1) a tall shrub-dominated understory with 60-90% mountain laurel, 2) a short shrub-dominated understory with dense dwarf heaths, such as black huckleberry, and 3) a herb-dominated understory with Pennsylvania sedge. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.28681.NYHERITAGECHEST
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 16
      Party Perspective according to: Howard, Timothy
Perspective from: 03-Dec-2004 to: ongoing
      Names:   Other: NY Heritage: Chestnut oak forest