Name:
Quercus montana - Quercus coccinea Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance includes dry oak forests strongly dominated by <i>Quercus montana</i> or <i>Quercus montana</i> with admixtures of <i>Quercus coccinea, Quercus velutina</i>, or, to the north, <i>Quercus rubra</i>. Other canopy/subcanopy associates include <i>Acer rubrum, Amelanchier arborea, Carya pallida, Magnolia fraseri, Nyssa sylvatica, Oxydendrum arboreum, Pinus rigida, Pinus strobus, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Sassafras albidum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium arboreum</i>. An ericaceous shrub layer is variable in cover, with species such as <i>Gaylussacia baccata, Gaylussacia ursina, Kalmia latifolia, Eubotrys recurva, Rhododendron maximum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium pallidum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium stamineum</i>. In the upper Piedmont, <i>Kalmia latifolia, Vaccinium arboreum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium pallidum</i> are common. In the montane distribution of this alliance, forests of this alliance have replaced forests formerly dominated or codominated by <i>Castanea dentata</i>, and chestnut sprouts are common in the understory. Other shrub species found in forests of this alliance include <i>Diospyros virginiana, Sassafras albidum</i>, and <i>Styrax grandifolius</i>. Herbaceous cover is typically sparse in these dry, rocky forests, and species vary with geographic location. Common species may include <i>Chimaphila umbellata, Danthonia spicata, Epigaea repens, Galax urceolata, Gaultheria procumbens</i>, and <i>Solidago odora</i>, and others. The alliance is broad-ranging, from the Southern and Central Appalachians, Ridge and Valley, Cumberland Plateau, Piedmont, Interior Low Plateau, north into the Western Allegheny Plateau, Southern New England / Northern Piedmont, to the Chaplain / St. Lawrence valleys and scattered locations of the Northern Appalachians. These forests occur on convex upper slopes, ridgetops, and south-facing slopes, over thin, rocky, infertile soils in the Appalachians, typically below 1066 m (3500 feet) elevation where windthrow and ice damage are common natural disturbances. In the Piedmont, these forests occur on low mountains and hills, on rocky, well-drained, acidic soils, sometimes associated with outcrops of quartzite or other resistant rock.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38038-{51F0622B-8F50-48A5-BAC2-E68763D1DB3C}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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