Name:
Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor Flatwoods & Swamp Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance, found in the central midwestern and northeastern United States, contains "flatwoods" and poorly drained floodplain communities. Stands are characterized by a closed to partially open canopy dominated by <i>Quercus bicolor</i> and/or <i>Quercus palustris</i>, as well as <i>Acer rubrum, Carya ovata, Liquidambar styraciflua, Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus alba, Quercus coccinea</i>, and others. Many stands are seasonally wet (mostly during winter and early spring) with a shallow, perched water table that tend to be dry in late summer and early fall. This situation promotes vegetation often called "flatwoods." Although flatwoods are best developed on soils with massive, brittle fragipans, they are also well-represented on relatively impermeable clay soils that are found on poorly drained uplands or in depressions on level glacial lakeplains or outwash plains. Fragipans (or hardpans) are usually developed from glacial till of Illinoisan age in the Midwest. During the rainy season, water slowly permeates these soils and may remain standing in depressions. The soil dries rapidly in the summer or during drought, and herbaceous vegetation wilts in response to this stress. The penetration of tree roots in the subsoil and burrowing by animals are limited by the hardpan, and tree species may appear somewhat stunted. Some stands are found on seasonally saturated sites that receive groundwater seepage. This water, combined with rainwater, keeps the soils saturated during wet periods and moist during dry periods. The soils have a pH below 5.5. The parent material is sand, gravelly or sandy alluvium, muck, or peat.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38048-{AAD82C70-77D0-4E0C-A91B-AC5EAA2302E2}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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