Name:
NY Heritage: Pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit
Reference:
Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description:
A community that occurs on warm, dry, rocky ridgetops and summits where the bedrock is non-calcareous (such as quartzite, sandstone, or schist), and the soils are more or less acidic. The vegetation may be sparse or patchy, with numerous rock outcrops. This community is broadly defined and includes examples that may lack pines and are dominated by scrub oak and/or heath shrubs apparently related to fire regime. This community is often surrounded by chestnut oak forest.
Characteristic species include pitch pine (Pinus rigida), chestnut oak (Quercus montana), red oak (Q. rubra), and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea). Other trees may include black cherry (Prunus serotina), red maple (Acer rubrum), gray birch (Betula populifolia), choke-cherry (Prunus virginiana), shadbush (Amelanchier arborea), white pine (Pinus strobus), and a few black gum (Nyssa sylvatica).
Characteristic shrubs include scrub oak (Q. ilicifolia), common juniper (Juniperus communis), blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium, V. pallidum), sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina), and black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata). Other shrubs include highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), chokeberry (Aronia spp), and deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum).
Characteristic herbs include Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), poverty-grass (Danthonia spicata), common hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa), three-toothed cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata), and cow-wheat (Melampyrum lineare). Other herbs include bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and pink corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens)
Characteristic lichens include various crustose, foliose, and fruticose lichens, such as Cetraria arenaria Cladina spp. and Cladonia spp. Characteristic mosses include hair cap moss (Polytrichum spp.) and pincushion moss (Leucobryum glaucum).
Examples dominated by white pine (Pinus strobus) or other oaks (e.g., Quercus rubra and Q. montana) are tentatively included here until further evaluation warrants the recognition of new community types.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28841.NYHERITAGEPITCH
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
22
|
