Name:
Quercus montana - Quercus rubra - Carya ovalis / Carex pensylvanica - (Calamagrostis porteri) Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is currently known from the southern part of the Central Appalachians, on the northern Virginia Blue Ridge and higher ridges of the Ridge and Valley in western Virginia and adjacent West Virginia. Occurrences in western Maryland and central and western Pennsylvania should be sought. This association usually occupies middle to upper slopes and narrow ridge crests underlain by various sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, including sandstone, quartzite, siltstone, metasiltstone, phyllite, acidic shale, and rarely amphibolite. Among 53 Virginia plot samples, elevation ranges from 550-1270 m (2000-4160 feet), but the type is most common between 760 and 1100 m (2500-3600 feet). The moisture potential of plot-sampling sites was assessed as submesic or subxeric. Slopes vary from steep to sublevel, with aspects ranging from northeast to west. This association has an open, mixed canopy dominated by several oaks and hickories. Trees tend to be slightly stunted (often <20 m tall) on the drier and more exposed sites. <i>Quercus rubra, Quercus montana</i>, and <i>Carya ovalis</i> are the most abundant canopy species, but <i>Quercus alba</i> is a constant minor associate that becomes more abundant and replaces <i>Quercus montana</i> at the highest elevations. <i>Carya ovata, Carya glabra, Fraxinus americana</i>, and <i>Quercus velutina</i> are minor overstory associates. The subcanopy tends to be strongly dominated by <i>Carya ovalis</i>. Lower understory layers tend to be open or sparse with scattered <i>Ostrya virginiana, Crataegus macrosperma, Amelanchier arborea, Acer pensylvanicum</i>, and tree saplings. <i>Vaccinium stamineum, Vaccinium pallidum, Rosa carolina</i>, and <i>Spiraea corymbosa</i> commonly form a patchy low-shrub layer. The herb layer is open but moderately diverse with drought-tolerant graminoids and forbs.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:36576-{47187FF1-DC4E-4E73-A00C-8EFF3A6D2247}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
82
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