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Lythrum alatum - Panicum anceps - Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wet-Mesic Blackland Grassland | NatureServe Biotics 2019
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Name: Lythrum alatum - Panicum anceps - Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wet-Mesic Blackland Grassland
Reference: NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description: This wet-mesic blackland prairie community occurs in shallow draws and depressions and in level areas with high soil moisture-holding capacity on the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas. This community is temporarily to seasonally saturated. Water may pond briefly in localized depressions due to the tight soils. Vegetation is typically thick, 1.8 m (6 feet) tall or greater. This community becomes shrubby very quickly with fire suppression. Fuel accumulation is rapid. Dominant species include <i>Lythrum alatum, Panicum anceps, Andropogon glomeratus</i>, and <i>Symphyotrichum</i> spp. <i>Tripsacum dactyloides</i> could have been a dominant in the community historically. Other herbaceous species include <i>Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, Carex annectens, Carex cherokeensis, Carex frankii, Desmanthus illinoensis, Conoclinium coelestinum, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Schedonorus pratensis, Glyceria striata, Helianthus grosseserratus, Juncus effusus, Lycopus</i> sp., <i>Phyla lanceolata, Scirpus pendulus, Sporobolus</i> sp., <i>Trepocarpus aethusae, Tripsacum dactyloides</i>, and <i>Vernonia baldwinii</i>. Woody species, including <i>Berchemia scandens, Celtis laevigata, Cercis canadensis, Cornus florida, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Juniperus virginiana, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus muehlenbergii, Smilax bona-nox</i>, and <i>Smilax rotundifolia</i> occur locally during periods of fire suppression, colonizing and growing faster than in the drier blackland prairie communities. Woody vegetation can become dense, shading out herbaceous prairie species. Soils are alkaline clays with the high shrink-swell character of the Terouge Silty Clay Series. This community has a limited distribution and high-quality examples have not yet been identified. It seems likely that this community used to cover the lower flats and upper swales that become riparian woodlands lower on the landscape. These areas have been largely converted to fescue pasture or dense young stands of <i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i> on both the flats and in the swales and small drains. It is hypothesized that much of the wet-mesic blackland prairie has succeeded to low-quality riparian blackland woodland. Examples are known form Columbus Prairie Preserve, Grandview Prairie, and the Terre Noire Natural Area complex. The type location is in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Other, small and degraded examples are known from Clark and Howard counties, Arkansas. 
Accession Code: urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:36130-{288B0468-8BBE-4477-A9CC-F8F997B49502}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 04-Jan-2016 to: ongoing
      Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688301 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: CEGL007962
  Translated: Winged Loosestrife - Beaked Panicgrass - White Panicle Aster Wet-Mesic Blackland Grassland
  Common: Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet-Mesic Blackland Grassland
  Scientific: Lythrum alatum - Panicum anceps - Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wet-Mesic Blackland Grassland
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(similar) Lythrum alatum - Panicum anceps - Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wet-Mesic Blackland Prairie Temporarily Flooded Herbaceous Vegetation