Name:
Pinus palustris - Pinus elliottii - Pinus serotina Open Woodland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group encompasses the wet and mesic pine savanna vegetation of the (mainly outer) coastal plains of the United States from southern Virginia to Texas. This group includes wet pine flatwoods and wet pine savannas. These habitats are characterized by poorly drained, somewhat poorly drained, and seasonally saturated mineral soils with at least seasonally high water tables. Examples occur on a wide range of soil textures. This variability in soil texture strongly affects the composition of the ground cover, which is itself an important factor in distinguishing among the different plant associations in this group. In natural condition, canopies are open and dominated by <i>Pinus palustris</i>, sometimes with <i>Pinus elliottii var. elliottii, Pinus serotina</i>, or <i>Pinus taeda</i>. In south Florida, very open stands are naturally dominated by <i>Pinus elliottii var. densa</i>. There is a diverse mix of grasses, herbs, and low shrubs that comprise the ground layer in high-quality stands of this vegetation. Grasses are typically dominant, but there is often a large diversity of other herbs. Among the grasses, <i>Aristida stricta</i> or <i>Aristida beyrichiana</i> often dominate within their ranges, but <i>Ctenium aromaticum, Muhlenbergia expansa, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus floridanus, Sporobolus pinetorum, Sporobolus teretifolius, Andropogon capillipes</i>, other <i>Andropogon</i> spp., or other grasses may also dominate. Understory conditions may be dramatically altered by fire frequency and seasonality. Exposure to frequent, low-intensity fires in the transition from dry springs to wet summers (with a short fire-return interval ranging typically from 1 to 2 years, and less commonly to 3 or 4 years) is the dominant natural ecological process structuring the savanna physiognomy and along with hurricanes, influencing the local biodiversity. In some parts of the coastal plain, this vegetation historically constituted one of the most extensive types in the region. Widespread alterations, which followed European settlement, including changes to natural fire regimes, have produced drastic changes to this group, and few large examples are extant that are managed using historical fire regimes. At present, many areas have undergone long periods of time without fire, and this has resulted in greater dominance by shrubs and <i>Serenoa repens</i>, as well as denser canopies of <i>Pinus elliottii</i> rather than <i>Pinus palustris</i>. The ground cover of low-elevation pine savannas also are being invaded by non-native plant species that include grasses, such as <i>Imperata cylindrica</i>, shrubs such as <i>Ligustrum sinense</i> and <i>Triadica sebifera</i>, and climbing ferns <i>Lygodium japonicum</i> and <i>Lygodium microphyllum</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:39993-{3D7AFA5C-EE26-4292-88C3-6CAA3059F791}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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