Name:
Quercus rubra - Carya ovata - Fraxinus americana / Actaea racemosa - Hydrophyllum virginianum Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is known from the southern part of the Central Appalachians, extending into the extreme northern portions of the Southern Blue Ridge, Southern Ridge and Valley, and Cumberland Mountains. It occurs throughout western Virginia and adjacent eastern West Virginia, forming extensive patches on the Northern Blue Ridge and, somewhat more locally, on the higher ridges of the Ridge and Valley province. Favorable sites are upper slopes and ridge crests with deep, base-rich soils weathered from mafic and calcareous parent material, including metabasalt (greenstone), amphibolite, pyroxene-bearing granulite, charnockite, and actinolite schist. It also occurs on sites underlain by calcareous sandstone, siltstone, metasiltone, phyllite, and felsic granites with mafic clasts. Occurrences span a range of intermediate elevations, from 680-1265 m (2250-4150 feet), with a mean elevation of approximately 1000 m (3280 feet). Slopes are mostly gentle to moderate, averaging about 15°. Aspect varies considerably, but a majority of stands are located on sites with southwestern to northwestern or flat exposures. Soils are mostly dark, friable loams and silt loams with variable chemistry, but typically high in calcium, magnesium, and/or manganese. The characteristic expression of this community is that of an oak or oak-hickory forest with an herb layer that resembles that of a rich cove forest. <i>Quercus rubra</i> is the most constant member of the overstory but usually shares dominance with <i>Carya ovalis, Carya ovata, Fraxinus americana</i> or, less frequently, other mesophytic hardwoods such as <i>Tilia americana</i> (both <i>var. americana</i> and <i>var. heterophylla</i>), <i>Quercus alba, Carya cordiformis, Prunus serotina</i>, and <i>Betula lenta</i>. Both <i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i> and <i>Quercus montana</i>, which are ubiquitous in much of the Central Appalachians, are uncommon to rare in this community type. The subcanopy tends to be strongly dominated by <i>Carya</i> spp. and <i>Fraxinus americana</i>, with <i>Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Acer pensylvanicum</i>, and <i>Ostrya virginiana</i> also important in some stands. The shrub layer is typically sparse. Most stands have a lush and generally diverse herb layer, with total cover often exceeding 80% and strong patch-dominance by leafy, colonial forbs such as <i>Actaea racemosa, Ageratina altissima var. altissima, Hydrophyllum virginianum, Collinsonia canadensis, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Laportea canadensis, Impatiens pallida, Thalictrum coriaceum</i>, and <i>Asclepias exaltata</i>. At higher elevations, where the type is transitional to northern red oak forests, <i>Dennstaedtia punctilobula</i> often dominates the herb layer in large clones.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:36578-{292768F0-62D2-465D-BDE8-8010CB654AD2}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
110
|
