Name:
Quercus muehlenbergii - Fraxinus (quadrangulata, americana) / Schizachyrium scoparium Woodland
Reference:
Midwestern Ecology Working Group...
Description:
This chinkapin oak - ash woodland community is found in the Ozark region of the United States, particularly Missouri and Arkansas. Stands occur on moderately steep to steep mid- to upper slopes of hills, ridges, and plains, and on steep slopes and bluffs along streams and rivers. Aspect can be in any direction, but most frequently southern to western. Soils are rapidly drained to well-drained, and very shallow to shallow (0-100 cm). The parent material is limestone, cherty limestone, or dolomite with rock fragments, boulders, or bedrock at or near the surface. The tree canopy is open, sometimes somewhat stunted or limby, and occasionally complex in pattern due to the bedrock influence. Tree canopies are short and slow-growing with slow replacement. Typical dominants include <i>Quercus muehlenbergii, Fraxinus americana</i>, and <i>Fraxinus quadrangulata</i>, along with <i>Juniperus virginiana</i>. Shrubs may include <i>Rhus aromatica, Frangula caroliniana (= Rhamnus caroliniana), Crataegus</i> spp., or more rarely, <i>Cotinus obovatus</i>. Dominant ground layer species include <i>Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans</i>, and <i>Bouteloua curtipendula</i>. Other characteristic species include <i>Astragalus crassicarpus var. berlandieri (= Astragalus mexicanus), Galium arkansanum, Ophioglossum engelmannii, Polygala senega, Smilax bona-nox</i>, and, in more western stands of the Springfield Plateau, <i>Astragalus distortus, Berlandiera betonicifolia (= Berlandiera texana)</i>, and <i>Erysimum capitatum</i>. With a lack of fire, canopies become more closed, and the canopy and subcanopy develop more coverage by <i>Acer saccharum</i> and <i>Quercus alba</i>, with invasion by <i>Juniperus virginiana</i>, and with denser subcanopy and shrub strata.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.36779.CEGL002143
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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