Name:
Cephalanthus occidentalis / Carex spp. Central Interior Wet Meadow & Shrubland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This open shrub and herb vegetation group encompasses ponds of the unglaciated eastern United States, found landward of the coastal plains (i.e., in the Ozark, Ouachita, and Interior Low Plateau, as well as the Southern and Central Appalachians and the Piedmont regions). Stands occur on flat to gently sloping to undulating surfaces, as well as in shallow to deep basins of sinkholes or other isolated depressions on uplands. Soils are poorly drained to very poorly drained, and surface water may be present for extended periods of time, rarely becoming dry. The typical hydrology is seasonally flooded, but the hydroperiod may be of greater or lesser length, depending on the depth of the basin or depression feature and the annual rainfall. Water depth may vary greatly on a seasonal basis and may be a meter deep or more in the winter in longer hydroperiod examples. Some examples become dry in the summer. Soils may be deep (100 cm or more), consisting of poorly drained mineral soil, as well as of peat or muck, with parent material of peat, muck or alluvium. Ponded examples vary from open scattered to more closed herb- or shrub-dominated ponds. The vegetation may be zoned, with an outer ring of trees, a more interior ring of shrubs, herbs and vines, and possibly a deeper central area with or without standing water year-round depending on precipitation. The shrub-dominated examples typically contain <i>Cephalanthus occidentalis</i>, or <i>Dulichium arundinaceum</i> and <i>Salix</i> spp. The herbaceous layer is widely variable depending on geography, but includes <i>Carex aquatilis, Carex comosa, Panicum virgatum, Juncus</i> spp., <i>Scirpus</i> and/or <i>Schoenoplectus</i> spp., and <i>Polygonum</i> spp. Trees fringing the ponds include <i>Quercus</i> spp. (particularly <i>Quercus phellos</i> [to the south] or <i>Quercus palustris</i> [to the north]), <i>Platanus occidentalis, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Acer saccharinum</i>, or <i>Nyssa</i> spp.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40264-{4805E32F-E4C4-46D3-9C0F-4C1CE3AC91CF}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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