Comm #2346
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NY Heritage: Beech-maple mesic forest
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accession code: VB.CC.28519.NYHERITAGEBEECH
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Ecological Communities of New York, 2nd Ed. |
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A hardwood forest with sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) codominant. This is a broadly defined community type with several regional and edaphic variants. These forests occur on moist, well-drained, usually acid soils. Common associates are yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), white ash (Fraxinus americana), hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), and red maple (Acer rubrum). There are relatively few shrubs and herbs.
Characteristic small trees or tall shrubs are hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), and alternate-leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia).
Dominant groundlayer species are star flower (Trientalis borealis), common wood-sorrel (Oxalis montana), Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), purple trillium (T. erectum), shining fir clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula) and intermediate wood fern (Dryopteris intermedia). Associated herbs include Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), and false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum). There are many spring ephemerals which bloom before the canopy trees leaf out. Typically there is also an abundance of tree seedlings, especially of sugar maple; American beech and sugar maple saplings are often the most abundant "shrubs" and small trees. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) may be present at a low density. In the Adirondacks a few red spruce (Picea rubens) may also be present.
Characteristic birds include American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus), black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens), least flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), and red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus).
Within extensive areas of beech-maple mesic forest, there are often associated small patches of hemlock-northern hardwood forest in steep ravines and gullies where eastern hemlock is locally dominant. |
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