Name:
Fraxinus nigra - Abies balsamea / Rhamnus alnifolia Swamp Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is a lush, circumneutral, seepage-fed, mixed woodland or forested swamp of the Allegheny Mountains region of West Virginia. It is a late-successional, small-patch community limited to frost-pocket wetlands on the Mississippian Greenbrier limestone, at elevations between 960 and 1000 m. The community occurs on temporarily to semipermanently flooded, flat headwater basins and backswamps along small streams. Microtopography is characterized by irregular hummocks formed over buttressed tree roots, tip-up mounds, nurse logs, and decaying wood. Soils are poorly drained muck or organic-rich silt loam over mottled or gleyed silty clay. This rich swamp provides habitat for a number of rare shade-tolerant calciphile wetland species. The canopy is open to closed and dominated by stunted, inundation-stressed <i>Abies balsamea, Fraxinus nigra</i>, and <i>Tsuga canadensis</i>. The subcanopy is dominated by <i>Abies balsamea</i> with varying amounts of <i>Betula alleghaniensis var. alleghaniensis, Tsuga canadensis, Picea rubens</i>, and <i>Fraxinus nigra</i>. The tall-shrub layer is dominated by <i>Alnus incana ssp. rugosa</i> with locally abundant <i>Ilex verticillata</i> and sometimes vigorous <i>Picea rubens</i> regeneration in this stratum. The short-shrub layer is dominated by <i>Rhamnus alnifolia</i> or rarely by <i>Cornus amomum</i>. The herbaceous ground layer is extensive and diverse, typically including over 50 species. The most abundant species are <i>Carex bromoides ssp. bromoides</i> and <i>Glyceria striata</i>. Other common species include <i>Arisaema triphyllum, Caltha palustris var. palustris, Carex gynandra, Dryopteris cristata, Impatiens capensis, Juncus effusus, Lycopus uniflorus, Maianthemum canadense, Osmunda cinnamomea var. cinnamomea, Packera aurea, Polygonum sagittatum, Rubus hispidus</i>, and <i>Solidago rugosa</i>. <i>Poa alsodes</i> is locally abundant. Dominant bryophytes are <i>Sphagnum</i> spp., <i>Hypnum imponens, Thuidium delicatulum</i>, and <i>Bazzania trilobata</i>. The community has a large number of diagnostic species, including <i>Carex bromoides ssp. bromoides, Carex crinita, Clematis virginiana, Cornus amomum, Dryopteris cristata, Epilobium coloratum, Euphorbia purpurea, Fraxinus nigra, Galium asprellum, Geum rivale, Milium effusum var. cisatlanticum, Oxypolis rigidior, Polemonium vanbruntiae, Rhamnus alnifolia</i>, and <i>Smilax tamnoides</i>. Mean species richness of all vascular plants and any nonvascular plants with cover >1% is 70 taxa per 400 m2.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:34654-{59581E30-77FB-478F-AABB-02579059A716}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
12
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