Name:
NY Heritage: Limestone woodland
Reference:
Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description:
A woodland that occurs on shallow soils over limestone bedrock in non-alvar settings, and usually includes numerous rock outcrops. The tree canopy may be open or closed. There are usually several codominant trees, although one species may become dominant in any one stand.
Characteristic canopy trees in some stands are primarily conifers such as northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), white pine (Pinus strobus), white spruce (Picea glauca), and balsam fir (Abies balsamea). In other stands the characteristic canopy trees are primarily hardwoods such as hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), white oak (Quercus alba), bur oak (Q. macrocarpa), red oak (Q. rubra), and basswood (Tilia americana). There are also stands that include mixtures of these conifers and hardwoods. More data are needed on these variations in canopy composition and related changes in understory composition.
The shrublayer is variable, becoming more dense where the canopy is open and soils are deeper. Characteristic shrubs include gray dogwood (Cornus foemina ssp. racemosa), wild honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica), alder-leaf buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia), prickly gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati), raspberries (Rubus idaeus, R. occidentalis), bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), shadbush (Amelanchier spp.), and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).
The groundlayer may be quite diverse, with many grasses, sedges, and forbs. Characteristic herbs include sedges (Carex eburnea, C. pensylvanica, C. platyphylla), marginal wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis), rattlesnake fern (Botrychium virginianum), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides), big-leaf aster (Aster macrophyllus), wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), black snakeroot (Sanicula marilandica), herb robert (Geranium robertianum), Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), false Solomon's-seal (Maianthemum racemosum), early meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum), white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), and blue-stem goldenrod (Solidago caesia). Shaded rock surfaces and crevices often support ferns such as rock polypody (Polypodium virginianum) and maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes). More data on regional variants and characteristic animals are needed.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28723.NYHERITAGELIMES
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
2
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