Login | Datasets | Logout
 

View Community Concepts - Detail

NY Heritage: Dwarf pine ridges | Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
  click to update datacart
Name: NY Heritage: Dwarf pine ridges
Reference: Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed.
Description: A woodland community dominated by dwarf individuals of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), which occurs on flat-topped summits of rocky ridges. The bedrock is a white quartzite conglomerate; soils are very thin, and they are rich in organic matter from litter that has accumulated on the bedrock. Characteristic woody plants associated with the dwarf pines in the tall shrub "canopy" are wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides), black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), and stunted gray birch (Betula populifolia). There is also a low shrub stratum with blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium and V. pallidum), sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina), and sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia). Characteristic groundlayer species are wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), moccasin flower (Cypripedium acaule), and cow-wheat (Melampyrum lineare). More data on characteristic animals are needed. The dwarf pine ridges community grades into the pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit community, which occurs on the top and upper slopes of ridges. The dwarf pine ridges are distinguished primarily by the height of the canopy pines: stands with pines less than 4.9 m (16 ft) tall are classified as dwarf pine ridges. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.28857.NYHERITAGEDWARF
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 9
      Party Perspective according to: Howard, Timothy
Perspective from: 03-Dec-2004 to: ongoing
      Names:   Other: NY Heritage: Dwarf pine ridges