Name:
Lyonia lucida - Ilex glabra - Cyrilla racemiflora Pocosin & Shrub Bog Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The vegetation of this group includes wetlands of organic soils, occurring on broad flats or gentle basins, primarily on the outer terraces of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia, with more limited expressions in other parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains south and west to Georgia and Alabama and possibly Mississippi. Under current conditions, the vegetation is predominantly dense shrubland. A characteristic suite of primarily evergreen shrubs and <i>Smilax</i> species dominate. These characteristic shrubs include <i>Cyrilla racemiflora, Ilex coriacea, Ilex glabra, Lyonia lucida</i>, and <i>Zenobia pulverulenta</i>, along with <i>Smilax laurifolia</i>. The most characteristic tree is <i>Pinus serotina</i>, along with <i>Gordonia lasianthus, Magnolia virginiana</i>, and <i>Persea palustris</i>. Herbs are scarce, but small patches dominated by <i>Woodwardia virginica, Carex striata, Sarracenia flava, Sarracenia purpurea</i>, or <i>Sphagnum</i> spp. are frequent in some examples. Under pre-European settlement fire regimes, stands of <i>Arundinaria tecta</i> (canebrakes) would have been more common and extensive, and herbaceous patches would have been more extensive. Soil saturation, sheetflow, and peat depth create a distinct gradient in structure, with the highest statured woody vegetation on the edges and lowest in the center. Catastrophic fires are important in this group, naturally occurring at moderate frequency. Fires generally kill all above-ground vegetation in large patches, creating a shifting mosaic. Vegetation structure and biomass recover rapidly in most of the burned areas, primarily by sprouting. In the Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama, adjacent Georgia, and possibly Mississippi, the wetlands generally occur in small patches on slopes within a matrix of <i>Pinus palustris</i>-dominated vegetation. Wetland conditions are maintained by seepage flow from adjacent uplands. Examples of this group can vary between densely shrubby and fairly open and herbaceous, depending on frequency of fire and amount of elapsed time since the previous fires. The globally rare pitcher plant <i>Sarracenia rubra ssp. alabamensis</i> may be present in some examples.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:39989-{E4A1AD4B-2750-4FF1-B7CE-14D28707BFE6}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
|
