Name:
Pinus pungens - Pinus rigida - Quercus montana Woodland Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance encompasses woodlands dominated by some combination of <i>Pinus pungens, Pinus rigida</i>, and <i>Pinus virginiana</i>, often with <i>Quercus montana</i>. Common canopy and subcanopy associates include <i>Acer rubrum, Castanea dentata, Nyssa sylvatica, Oxydendrum arboreum</i>, and <i>Quercus coccinea</i>. Typical shrubs include <i>Fothergilla major, Gaylussacia baccata, Gaylussacia ursina, Kalmia latifolia, Leiophyllum buxifolium, Eubotrys recurva, Quercus ilicifolia, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron carolinianum, Rhododendron maximum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium pallidum, Vaccinium simulatum</i>, and <i>Vaccinium stamineum</i>. Understory species composition will vary within the range of this alliance, but commonly found forb and subshrub species in this usually sparse stratum include <i>Carex pensylvanica, Comptonia peregrina, Epigaea repens, Galax urceolata, Gaultheria procumbens, Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum</i>, and <i>Xerophyllum asphodeloides</i>. These woodlands may be found from Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia south and west to Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina in the Central and Southern Appalachians, Ridge and Valley, and southern Piedmont. This vegetation tends to occur under extreme conditions, including rock outcrops, summits, and exposed slopes, including steep, shaley slopes that maintain the open structure of the vegetation. Fire plays a role in the maintenance of the structure and composition of this vegetation, and without periodic fire, these woodlands may gradually transition into forests dominated by <i>Quercus montana</i> and <i>Quercus coccinea</i>, except on the most extreme sites, where this vegetation is more self-perpetuating.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38092-{80CB0C4E-13C3-41E0-964A-2047792E25AB}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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