Name:
Fagus grandifolia / Carex pensylvanica - Ageratina altissima var. roanensis Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community includes forest vegetation with short-statured canopies dominated by <i>Fagus grandifolia</i> and occurring in the high-elevation landscapes of the Southern Appalachians. On drier sites, such as south slopes, the association is expressed as the classic "beech gap "having a dense, graminoid-dominated herbaceous stratum. On more mesic sites, such as north slopes, the community is thought to be more similar to northern hardwood forests, having a more diverse canopy and subcanopy, occurring over a field stratum that is a mixture of coarse forbs, ferns and sedges. This forest association typically occurs on concave slopes, in gaps, flat ridgetops, or upper slopes of all aspects, at elevations of greater than 1370 m (4500 feet). It is found in scattered sites on high elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and possibly Georgia. This community is a broad-leaved deciduous forest with a canopy dominated by stunted, sometimes gnarled <i>Fagus grandifolia</i>, sometimes with lesser amounts of <i>Halesia tetraptera var. monticola</i> or <i>Aesculus flava</i> and <i>Betula alleghaniensis</i>. The subcanopy, if present, may include small stems of canopy species as well as <i>Acer spicatum, Acer pensylvanicum, Amelanchier laevis</i>, and <i>Sorbus americana</i>. Typically there is little shrub development (0-10%) with such species as <i>Crataegus punctata, Ribes</i> spp., <i>Viburnum lantanoides, Rubus canadensis, Hydrangea arborescens</i>, and <i>Cornus alternifolia</i>. Herbaceous cover can vary from dense, often approaching 100% coverage by species of <i>Carex</i> including <i>Carex aestivalis, Carex brunnescens, Carex debilis, Carex intumescens</i>, and <i>Carex pensylvanica</i>, to moderately dense (40-60% cover) and dominated by large herbs and patches of ferns, with lesser amounts of sedges. Other herbaceous species in this community are typical of rich Southern Appalachian forests and may include <i>Ageratina altissima var. roanensis, Anemone quinquefolia, Arisaema triphyllum, Eurybia chlorolepis, Athyrium filix-femina ssp. asplenioides, Actaea racemosa, Dryopteris campyloptera, Epifagus virginiana, Impatiens pallida, Medeola virginiana, Oxalis montana, Laportea canadensis, Luzula acuminata, Phacelia bipinnatifida, Poa alsodes, Prenanthes altissima, Prenanthes roanensis, Stellaria pubera, Thelypteris noveboracensis</i>, and <i>Trillium erectum</i>. This community commonly occurs as small patches surrounded by other forest types, montane grasslands and shrublands.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:34778-{6A9B3BC7-F49F-4459-B91F-F52841747F29}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
32
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