Name:
Quercus falcata - Quercus michauxii / Ilex opaca Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is a mesic oak forest of the central Atlantic Coastal Plain. In general, this vegetation borders wetlands and occurs in areas with a high water table or soils with high clay content. Canopy dominants include <i>Quercus falcata, Quercus phellos, Quercus alba, Quercus michauxii</i>, with <i>Liquidambar styraciflua</i> and <i>Acer rubrum</i> common associates. Pines may be present, including <i>Pinus rigida</i> or <i>Pinus echinata</i> in New Jersey, or <i>Pinus taeda</i> in Delaware and Maryland. <i>Pinus serotina</i> is reported in some Delaware examples of this community. A subcanopy is often present with <i>Ilex opaca, Vaccinium corymbosum</i>, and <i>Amelanchier canadensis</i>. <i>Gaylussacia frondosa</i> forms a patchy shrub layer draped with <i>Smilax rotundifolia</i>, and the herb layer is sparse with species such as <i>Chasmanthium laxum, Osmunda regalis</i>, and <i>Mitchella repens</i>.<br /><br />In New Jersey, this forest occupies peripheral parts of the Pinelands in the coastal oak-pine-holly subregion, and extends inland along the edges of major river estuaries. These forests are codominated by tree-oaks such as <i>Quercus falcata, Quercus phellos, Quercus michauxii, Quercus coccinea</i>, and <i>Quercus alba</i>, smaller amounts of <i>Liquidambar styraciflua, Acer rubrum, Pinus rigida, Pinus echinata</i>, and rarely in New Jersey <i>Pinus taeda</i>, as well as local areas with codominance by <i>Fagus grandifolia, Carya</i> spp., <i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i>, or other hardwoods. The multi-layered understory is often dense and evergreen, including <i>Ilex opaca, Cornus florida, Kalmia latifolia, Vaccinium corymbosum</i>, and other heaths. This community can also be associated with oak-pine-holly forest (OPH) near the coast with similar understory structure and species diversity.<br /><br />Oak-hardwood-holly mesic forests are concentrated in the coastal subregion of the Pinelands, typically on "perihydric" sites (i.e., adjacent to wetlands), and/or mesic to semi-hydric upland soils with a higher clay content relative to most Pinelands soils. Fire-return intervals of 150-200 years are suggested by its species composition which contains thin-barked, fire-sensitive hardwoods and holly and little or no pine, as well as its peripheral distribution in the Pinelands landscape. The interval between fires in this community has been great due to its location near both the coast and major wetlands, where the regional edge effect and fire shadow effect combine. The coastal influence on climate which moderates temperatures and expands growing season also enhances the abundance of southern-affinity holly, southern red oak, willow oak and swamp chestnut oak.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:35034-{CB545646-8D3D-4699-99A0-31D6ECA3194C}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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