Name:
North-Central Appalachian Acidic Scrub & Grassland Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group is characterized by non-forested vegetation of acidic / nutrient-poor acidic bedrock outcrops and summits, or dry, sandy, nutrient-poor soils occurring on barrens or on sandy eroding river bluffs. Physiognomy is variable, ranging from graminoid-dominated, to shrublands, with or without very scattered, usually stunted, trees. Vegetation is usually patchy, with bare, or lichen-covered substrate of variable cover. Vegetation includes "pine plains" dominated by a dwarf-shrub variant of <i>Pinus rigida</i> associated with pine barrens, as well as taller shrublands, often quite dense, dominated by <i>Quercus ilicifolia</i>. This group also includes "heathlands" comprising dwarf-shrublands of low ericaceous shrubs such as <i>Gaylussacia baccata, Vaccinium angustifolium</i>, and <i>Vaccinium pallidum</i>; <i>Vaccinium myrtilloides, Sibbaldiopsis tridentata</i>, and <i>Sorbus americana</i> also occur at higher elevations and in the north at lower elevations. Associations characterized by graminoids <i>Carex lucorum, Carex pensylvanica, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia flexuosa</i>, or <i>Schizachyrium scoparium</i> are also included in this group. Although there is significant overlap in floristic composition, there are two distinct environmental settings supporting this group: acidic bedrock outcrops and summits, and relatively flat plains with dry to xeric sandy soils. This group also includes small mafic bedrock associations characterized by <i>Asplenium trichomanes, Adiantum aleuticum</i>, and <i>Cerastium arvense</i>, as well as vegetation occurring on sandy river bluffs characterized by widely scattered early-successional trees and dwarf-shrubs, including <i>Hudsonia ericoides</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40361-{BB4E65A9-C57C-4A4D-8DCE-2199E4A03705}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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