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CEGL002462 Quercus rubra - Quercus alba - (Quercus velutina, Acer rubrum) / Viburnum acerifolium Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Northern Red Oak - White Oak - (Black Oak, Red Maple) / Mapleleaf Viburnum Forest

Colloquial Name: Northern Red Oak - White Oak - Maple Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This dry to dry-mesic oak forest community is found in the central regions of the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. Stands typically occur on well-drained sandy and sandy loam moraines, ice-contact topography, and fine-textured glacial lakebeds. The overstory contains Quercus rubra, Quercus alba, Acer rubrum and, less frequently Pinus strobus, Populus grandidentata, and Quercus velutina. The sapling layer contains Prunus serotina and Ostrya virginiana, with Acer rubrum or Acer saccharum. Shrubs include Amelanchier spp. and Viburnum acerifolium. The herbaceous layer contains Aralia nudicaulis, Eurybia macrophylla, Desmodium glutinosum, Desmodium nudiflorum, Maianthemum canadense, and Trientalis borealis. Further work is needed to characterize this type rangewide.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This type represents a drier type than ~Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum - (Betula alleghaniensis) Forest (CEGL002461)$$. Moisture in the Minnesota type should be checked. This type may be a result of logging of white pine or white pine-oak stands (Nowacki et al. 1990) [see also ~Pinus strobus - (Pinus resinosa) - Quercus rubra Forest (CEGL002480)$$ or ~Pinus strobus - Quercus alba / (Corylus americana, Gaylussacia baccata) Forest (CEGL002481)$$]. On the Manistee National Forest in Michigan, this type may occur on ELTP 32, 34, 35, 37, and perhaps some parts of 62 and 63 (Cleland et al. 1994). Drier forested stands on sand in the Manistee may be placed in ~Quercus velutina - Quercus alba / Vaccinium (angustifolium, pallidum) / Carex pensylvanica Forest (CEGL005030)$$ or at the most extreme dry end, into black oak - white oak woodland, ~Quercus velutina - (Quercus ellipsoidalis) - Quercus alba / Deschampsia flexuosa Woodland (CEGL005029)$$. In Michigan the southern limits of this type compared to the northern limits of ~Quercus alba - Quercus rubra - Carya ovata Glaciated Forest (CEGL002068)$$ and ~Quercus velutina - Quercus alba - Carya (glabra, ovata) Forest (CEGL002076)$$ need to be resolved.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available

Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The overstory contains Quercus rubra, Quercus alba, Acer rubrum, and, less frequently, Pinus strobus, Populus grandidentata, and Quercus velutina. The sapling layer contains Prunus serotina and Ostrya virginiana, with Acer rubrum or Acer saccharum. Shrubs include Amelanchier spp. and Viburnum acerifolium. The herbaceous layer contains Aralia nudicaulis, Eurybia macrophylla (= Aster macrophyllus), Desmodium glutinosum, Desmodium nudiflorum, Maianthemum canadense, and Trientalis borealis (Nowacki et al. 1990, Cleland et al. 1994). Further work is needed to characterize this type rangewide.

Dynamics:  Natural disturbances necessary for the persistence of this type are not clear. Nowacki et al. (1990) report that the historical data indicate that these stands were typically pine or pine-oak stands prior to European settlement. Logging and subsequent fires in the mid to late 1800s created conditions favorable to red oak regeneration. Major recruitment occurred for about 25-30 years after these disturbances. Subsequent low light levels and increased competition from other trees, such as sugar and red maple, have prevented further establishment.

Environmental Description:  Stands occur on well-drained sandy and sandy loam, coarse-textured, moraines, ice-contact topography, and fine-textured glacial lakebeds. Occasionally stands may occur on poorly drained sandy soils (Nowacki et al. 1990, Cleland et al. 1994).

Geographic Range: This dry to dry-mesic oak forest community is found in the central regions of the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada, ranging from parts of Minnesota east to Michigan and Ontario.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  MI, MN, ON, WI




Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available

Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available


Concept Lineage: Types were judged to be essentially synonymous.

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available

Synonomy: = Quercus rubra - Quercus alba - (Quercus velutina, Acer rubrum) / Viburnum acerifolium Forest (Faber-Langendoen 2001) [Northern Dry-Mesic Forest Red Oak-Red Maple Subtype]
= Oak Forest (Northeast Section) Red Maple Subtype (MNNHP 1993)

Concept Author(s): D. Faber-Langendoen (2001)

Author of Description: D. Faber-Langendoen

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 12-19-98

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  • Curtis, J. T. 1959. The vegetation of Wisconsin: An ordination of plant communities. Reprinted in 1987. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 657 pp.
  • Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
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  • MNNHP [Minnesota Natural Heritage Program]. 1993. Minnesota''s native vegetation: A key to natural communities. Version 1.5. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, St. Paul, MN. 110 pp.
  • Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
  • Minnesota DNR [Minnesota Department of Natural Resources]. 2003-2005a. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota. Three volumes: The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province (2003), The Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province (2005c), The Prairie Parkland and Tallgrass Aspen Parklands provinces (2005b). Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul.
  • Nowacki, G. J., M. D. Abrams, and C. G. Lorimer. 1990. Composition, structure, and historical development of northern red oak stands along an edaphic gradient in north-central Wisconsin. Forest Science 36(2):276-292.
  • ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.
  • WDNR [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources]. 2015. The ecological landscapes of Wisconsin: An assessment of ecological resources and a guide to planning sustainable management. PUB-SS-1131 2015. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison. [http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/landscapes/Book.html]