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CEGL007859 Orontium aquaticum - Schoenoplectus subterminalis - Eriocaulon aquaticum Marsh
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Goldenclub - Swaying Bulrush - Seven-angle Pipewort Marsh
Colloquial Name: Goldenclub Pond
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community occurs in semipermanently flooded depression ponds developed by solution and collapse of carbonate rocks underlying acidic colluvial materials deposited on the eastern edge of the Great Valley of Virginia, in Augusta County, Virginia. Tentatively, it is also ascribed to acidic sites in the Coastal Plain of Virginia and Delaware. This community is limited among these ponds to Spring Pond, a cold, permanently flooded pond with water levels constantly replenished by groundwater inputs. Orontium aquaticum is the dominant plant; other species present are Schoenoplectus subterminalis, Brasenia schreberi, Eleocharis robbinsii, Eriocaulon aquaticum, Panicum hemitomon, and Woodwardia virginica.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Examples occur at Spring Pond in the Maple Flats pond complex (Augusta County, Virginia). Beaver activity at Spring Pond needs careful monitoring and remedial action if necessary to protect this community. If water levels are raised so high that the aquatic species cannot bottom-root, then the entire community could be extirpated from the pond. While some might argue that periodic beaver impacts on such wetlands are "natural," it would be a tragedy and a great loss to Virginia''s biodiversity if the finest (and possibly the only) example of this extraordinary vegetation type were destroyed.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The vegetation consists mostly of floating and submersed aquatics. Emergent species are mostly confined to somewhat shallower water along the pond edges. Orontium aquaticum is the dominant plant, seasonally covering the pond surface in great masses. Other species present are Brasenia schreberi, Eleocharis robbinsii, Eriocaulon aquaticum, Panicum hemitomon, Schoenoplectus subterminalis (= Scirpus subterminalis), and Woodwardia virginica. Rare plants present include Eleocharis robbinsii, Eriocaulon aquaticum, Panicum hemitomon, Potamogeton oakesianus, and Schoenoplectus subterminalis (= Scirpus subterminalis).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: At Maple Flats, this community is limited to Spring Pond (Buhlmann et al. 1999), a 2-ha (5-acre), cold, permanently flooded pond with water levels constantly replenished by groundwater inputs. The vegetation occupies a habitat with water about 1.0 m deep and a soft, organic substrate. Normally, water levels in Spring Pond are relatively constant, but have dropped occasionally to about 0.5 m during severe droughts (Buhlmann et al. 1999). In recent years, beavers have repeatedly dammed the pond outlet and raised water levels as much as 0.7 m.
Geographic Range: This community is definitely known from the Maple Flats Pond complex in Augusta County, Virginia. Tentatively, the type is also ascribed to a pond in the Ridge and Valley province of Pennsylvania, and to acidic semipermanent impoundments (beaver ponds, old mill ponds) in the Coastal Plain of Virginia and Delaware.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: DE, PA?, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.683977
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1
Greasons: No Data Available
Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
---|---|---|---|
Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
Subclass | 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass | S44 | 2.C |
Formation | 2.C.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
Division | 2.C.4.Nd Eastern North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D323 | 2.C.4.Nd |
Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Nd.2 Broadleaf Cattail - White Snakeroot - Rush species Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup | M069 | 2.C.4.Nd.2 |
Group | 2.C.4.Nd.2.a Bulrush species - Cattail species Freshwater Marsh Group | G125 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.a |
Alliance | A4065 Goldenclub - Swaying Bulrush Marsh Alliance | A4065 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.a |
Association | CEGL007859 Goldenclub - Swaying Bulrush - Seven-angle Pipewort Marsh | CEGL007859 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Orontium aquaticum - Schoenoplectus subterminalis - Eriocaulon aquaticum Herbaceous Vegetation (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
? Orontium aquaticum - Scirpus subterminalis community (Fleming and Van Alstine 1999)
? Orontium aquaticum - Scirpus subterminalis community (Fleming and Van Alstine 1999)
- Buhlmann, K. A., J. C. Mitchell, and L. R. Smith. 1999. Descriptive ecology of the Shenandoah Valley sinkhole pond system in Virginia. Banisteria 13:23-51.
- Clancy, K. 1996. Natural communities of Delaware. Unpublished review draft. Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware Division of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Smyrna, DE. 52 pp.
- Coxe, R. 2009. Guide to Delaware vegetation communities. Spring 2009 edition. State of Delaware, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Smyrna.
- Fleming, G. P., K. D. Patterson, and K. Taverna. 2017. The natural communities of Virginia: A classification of ecological community groups and community types. Third approximation. Version 3.0. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. [http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/]
- Fleming, G. P., and K. D. Patterson. 2009b. Classification of selected Virginia montane wetland groups. In-house analysis, December 2009. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
- Fleming, G. P., and N. E. Van Alstine. 1999. Plant communities and floristic features of sinkhole ponds and seepage wetlands in southeastern Augusta County, Virginia. Banisteria 13:67-94.
- Fleming, G. P., and P. P. Coulling. 2001. Ecological communities of the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Preliminary classification and description of vegetation types. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. 317 pp.
- Roble, S. M. 1999. Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) of the Shenandoah Valley sinkhole pond system and vicinity, Augusta County, Virginia. Banisteria 13:101-127.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.