Name:
Pinus virginiana / Vaccinium pallidum / Schizachyrium scoparium - Carex pensylvanica Woodland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community occurs on steep, shaley slopes in the Southern Appalachians and has an open to closed, stunted canopy and sparse herb and shrub strata characterized by species able to grow in loose shale fragments. It is known from the Hot Springs Window, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and occurs elsewhere in the Southern Appalachians, such as the Chauga Basin, South Carolina, and from Chilhowee Mountain, Tennessee. The canopy (5-25 m tall, 25-75% cover) is dominated by <i>Pinus virginiana</i>, with <i>Quercus montana</i> and <i>Quercus rubra</i> sometimes present in substantial numbers in less extreme habitats. The shrub layer is very sparse, and may include scattered individuals of <i>Kalmia latifolia, Vaccinium stamineum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium pallidum</i>. The herb layer is very sparse to patchy, and is dominated by <i>Schizachyrium scoparium, Carex pensylvanica, Danthonia spicata, Dichanthelium linearifolium</i>, with scattered individuals of <i>Coreopsis major, Houstonia longifolia, Hieracium venosum</i>, and <i>Euphorbia corollata</i>. Lichens are frequent, particularly on in-place outcrops, and include <i>Cladonia rangiferina</i> and <i>Cladonia</i> spp. Loose shale fragments cover 50-90% of the ground surface. It is apparently a long-lived community, maintained by harsh edaphic conditions of steep slopes and shifting shale substrate. The community can vary quite widely from a very open canopy to one that is almost closed in cases where the slope is less steep and/or the rock underlying the stand is more stable.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:32497-{34167141-9F7F-4BCB-A852-445EBA61CBD5}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
4
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