Name:
Central Midwest-Interior Sandstone Dry Cliff Vegetation
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This dry sandstone cliff community is found throughout the central midwestern and interior United States and adjacent southern Ontario, Canada. Stands occur as steep to vertical rock exposures of sandstone bedrock. Aspect is variable, but stands are best developed on south- and west-facing slopes. Vegetation is restricted to shelves, cracks and crevices in the rock, generally averaging less than 20%. Mosses and lichens are common, including crustose lichens. In the Ozarks and Interior Low Plateau, scattered occurrences of woody species, such as <i>Juniperus virginiana, Quercus stellata, Vaccinium arboreum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium pallidum</i>, are found. In the Ozarks and Interior Low Plateau, the herbaceous layer contains the ferns <i>Asplenium bradleyi, Asplenium pinnatifidum, Cheilanthes lanosa, Dennstaedtia punctilobula</i>, and <i>Dryopteris marginalis</i>. In Minnesota and Wisconsin the dry cliffs include forbs, such as <i>Aquilegia canadensis, Campanula rotundifolia, Solidago hispida, Solidago sciaphila</i> (Driftless Area endemic), <i>Toxicodendron radicans, Selaginella rupestris, Silene antirrhina</i>, and <i>Tradescantia ohiensis</i>, and the ferns <i>Asplenium trichomanes, Pellaea atropurpurea, Pellaea glabella, Polypodium virginianum</i>, and <i>Woodsia</i> spp. The nonvascular layer in Missouri includes the mosses <i>Brothera leana, Polytrichum</i> spp., and <i>Rhodobryum roseum</i>, and the lichens, <i>Pleopsidium chlorophanum, Cladonia mateocyatha, Cladonia strepsilis</i>, and <i>Dermatocarpon miniatum</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:30954-{964EE296-02A3-4E89-8E08-0BF46877D7EF}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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