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Chamaecyparis thyoides / Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla / Orontium aquaticum - Sphagnum spp. Swamp Forest | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Chamaecyparis thyoides / Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla / Orontium aquaticum - Sphagnum spp. Swamp Forest Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019 Description: This association, of the East Gulf Coastal Plain of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, occurs along small blackwater or spring-fed streams not subject to much flooding or siltation. Soils may be acidic peats but are usually circumneutral sands or sands overlain by peat. Although soils are perennially moist-wet, in contrast to more northern cedar swamp forests, they are seldom, if ever, inundated. The sand and peat soils include Histosols (Saprists and Hemists); the pH may be circumneutral or slightly acidic. Fires are infrequent and less destructive than in the northern range of <i>Chamaecyparis thyoides</i>. Gap succession is more important in this community than post-fire regeneration and accounts for the mixed, uneven-aged stands. Lightning strikes are the main cause of mortality in mature white-cedar trees within the range of this association. This community is an uneven-aged mixed forest consisting of a <i>Chamaecyparis thyoides</i> canopy often overtopping the <i>Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla</i> subcanopy. Other tree species which may be present include <i>Pinus elliottii var. elliottii</i> and <i>Nyssa biflora</i>. The shrub stratum (<i>Clethra alnifolia, Cyrilla racemiflora, Ilex coriacea, Lyonia lucida</i>) and herbaceous stratum (<i>Orontium aquaticum, Mitchella repens, Drosera</i> sp., <i>Osmunda cinnamomea, Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis</i>) are both well-developed. This community occurs in isolated populations in northeastern Florida and in more extensive but discontinuous stands along the northern Gulf coast from the central Florida Panhandle through Alabama to Mississippi. Some northeastern Florida examples may lack <i>Cliftonia</i>. Atlantic white-cedar communities are early-successional, but <i>Chamaecyparis thyoides</i> is a long-lived species (250+ years); gap regeneration is hypothesized to be the primary means of reproduction. The community often succeeds to itself following fire or other disturbance. In the absence of fire and adequate gap regeneration, Atlantic White-cedar forests may be replaced by bay forest.  Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:35450-{9BD0FDC9-D4AA-4F66-8262-D08A0CD93BA3} Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 02-Feb-1994 to: ongoing
	status: accepted Community's Parent: Chamaecyparis thyoides Swamp Forest Alliance This Community's Level: Association This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688121 NatureServe Explorer   Code: CEGL007151   Translated: Atlantic White-cedar / Sweetbay - Buckwheat-tree / Goldenclub - Peatmoss species Swamp Forest   Common: Gulf Coastal Plain Streamside Atlantic White-cedar Swamp Forest   Scientific: Chamaecyparis thyoides / Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla / Orontium aquaticum - Sphagnum spp. Swamp Forest (convergence) and Synonyms: (similar) CEGL007151 (similar) Chamaecyparis thyoides / Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla / Orontium aquaticum - Sphagnum spp. Forest (similar) Chamaecyparis thyoides / Magnolia virginiana - Cliftonia monophylla / Orontium aquaticum - Sphagnum spp. Forest