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CEGL002504 Great Lakes Limestone - Dolostone Cliff Sparse Vegetation
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Great Lakes Limestone - Dolostone Cliff Sparse Vegetation
Colloquial Name: Great Lakes Limestone - Dolostone Cliff
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This limestone - dolostone cliff community is found along the northern Great Lakes shorelines in the United States and Canada. Stands occur both as open exposed cliff faces and as low exposures concealed by forest cover. Exposed cliff faces are often wind-swept and experience extreme temperature fluctuations, with little vegetation. Plants growing in crevices include Deschampsia cespitosa, Pellaea glabella, Physocarpus opulifolius, Polypodium virginianum, and Thuja occidentalis. Where cliffs are largely concealed by a forest canopy, their climatic conditions are moderated, and many other herbaceous species are found, including Aralia nudicaulis, Cystopteris bulbifera, Cystopteris fragilis, Geranium robertianum, and Trientalis borealis. Other woody species present include Tilia americana, Acer spicatum, and Taxus canadensis. Mosses may also be common.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This type varies from dry cliff (exposed) to moist (shaded) cliff, but along the Great Lakes shoreline this distinction has not been made. Albert et al. (1995) do not indicate what the forest canopy composition is for the shaded limestone cliffs. The shaded cliff may fit in part into a White Cedar Limestone Cliff Woodland type, ~Thuja occidentalis Cliff Woodland (CEGL002451)$$; see Bakowsky and Lee (1996). On Lake Superior, a Precambrian limestone cliff type occurs, with arctic-alpine disjunct floristic elements. There may be less than 5 occurrences of this variant, each less than <20 m in width and between 5 and 10 m in height (Bakowsky pers. comm. 1998). This Great Lakes cliff is distinct from inland examples, ~Central Midwest-Interior Limestone - Dolostone Dry Cliff Sparse Vegetation (CEGL002291)$$ and ~Central Midwest-Interior Limestone - Dolostone Moist Cliff Vegetation (CEGL002292)$$.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Exposed cliff faces are often wind-swept and experience extreme temperature fluctuations, with little vegetation. Plants growing in crevices include Deschampsia cespitosa, Pellaea glabella, Physocarpus opulifolius, Polypodium virginianum, and Thuja occidentalis. Thuja occidentalis can attain very old ages elsewhere on limestone cliffs, often exceeding 300 years of age (Kelly and Larson 1997). Where cliffs are largely concealed by a forest canopy, their climatic conditions are moderated, and many other herbaceous species are found, including Aralia nudicaulis, Cystopteris bulbifera, Cystopteris fragilis, Geranium robertianum, and Trientalis borealis. Mosses may also be common. Other woody species present include Tilia americana, Acer spicatum, and Taxus canadensis (Albert et al. 1995).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Stands occur both as open exposed cliff faces and as low exposures concealed by forest cover. Exposed cliff faces are often wind-swept and experience extreme temperature fluctuations, with little vegetation. Where cliffs are largely concealed by a forest canopy, their climatic conditions are moderated (Albert et al. 1995).
Geographic Range: This limestone/dolostone cliff community is found along the northern Great Lakes shorelines in the United States and Canada, ranging from Michigan and Wisconsin (Door Peninsula only) to Ontario.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: MI, ON, VT, WI
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683770
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G4G5
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 6 Open Rock Vegetation Class | C06 | 6 |
| Subclass | 6.B Temperate & Boreal Open Rock Vegetation Subclass | S04 | 6.B |
| Formation | 6.B.1 Temperate & Boreal Cliff, Scree & Other Rock Vegetation Formation | F034 | 6.B.1 |
| Division | 6.B.1.Na Eastern North American Temperate Cliff, Scree & Rock Vegetation Division | D051 | 6.B.1.Na |
| Macrogroup | 6.B.1.Na.1 Shrubby Fivefingers - Rock Polypody / Cup Lichen species Eastern North American Cliff & Rock Vegetation Macrogroup | M111 | 6.B.1.Na.1 |
| Group | 6.B.1.Na.1.b Laurentian-Acadian-Great Lakes Cliff & Rock Vegetation Group | G839 | 6.B.1.Na.1.b |
| Alliance | A4006 Laurentian-Acadian-Great Lakes Alkaline Cliff Alliance | A4006 | 6.B.1.Na.1.b |
| Association | CEGL002504 Great Lakes Limestone - Dolostone Cliff Sparse Vegetation | CEGL002504 | 6.B.1.Na.1.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Limestone - Dolostone Great Lakes Shore Cliff Sparse Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001) [Great Lakes Bedrock Cliff Lake Michigan Subtype]
- Albert, D. A., P. J. Comer, R. A. Corner, D. Cuthrell, M. Penskar, and M. Rabe. 1995. Bedrock shoreline survey of the Niagaran Escarpment in Michigan''s Upper Peninsula: Mackinac County to Delta County. Michigan Natural Features Inventory for Land and Water Management Division (grant # CD-0.02).
- Bakowsky, W. D., and H. T. Lee. 1996. Vegetation communities of southern Ontario (draft). Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre and Southern Region STTU, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, Ontario. 87 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.).
- Kelly, P. E., and D. W. Larson. 1997. Dendroecological analysis of the population dynamics of an old-growth forest on cliff-faces of the Niagara Escarpment, Canada. Journal of Ecology 85:467-478.
- Kost, M. A., D. A. Albert, J. G. Cohen, B. S. Slaughter, R. K. Schillo, C. R. Weber, and K. A. Chapman. 2007. Natural communities of Michigan: Classification and description. Report No. 2007-21, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing. 314 pp. [http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/reports/2007-21_Natural_Communites_of_Michigan_Classification_and_Description.pdf]
- Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
- ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.
- Thompson, E. H., and E. R. Sorenson. 2005. Wetland, woodland, wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont. The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH. 456 pp.
- 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]