Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Black Ash - Mixed Hardwoods - Conifers / Red-osier Dogwood / Sedge species Swamp Forest

Colloquial Name: Black Ash - Mixed Hardwoods Swamp

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This black ash - mixed hardwoods and conifer swamp forest is found widely in the northern midwestern region of the United States and into the subboreal region of central Canada. Sites are found on well-decomposed woody peat or fine mineral soil. The type is found where perched wet pockets occur on fine sandy, clay loamy to fine loamy soils in valleys with impeded drainage or near shores. Hydrology can vary from seasonally flooded to saturated. Conditions are often transitional to uplands. Canopy structure is variable, ranging from 30-90% cover. The canopy is dominated by Fraxinus nigra (at least 50% cover), with a diverse mix of hardwoods and conifers in the main and subcanopies, including Abies balsamea, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Betula alleghaniensis, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Picea glauca, Populus balsamifera, Populus tremuloides, Thuja occidentalis, Tilia americana, and Ulmus americana. Shrub and sapling species include Abies balsamea, Acer spicatum, Cornus sericea, Corylus cornuta, Lonicera canadensis, Prunus virginiana, Ribes triste, Rubus idaeus, and Rubus pubescens. Herbaceous species include Aralia nudicaulis, Eurybia macrophylla, Athyrium filix-femina, Carex gracillima, Carex intumescens, Cinna latifolia, Circaea alpina, Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris carthusiana, Equisetum sylvaticum, Fragaria virginiana, Maianthemum canadense, Mitella nuda, Streptopus lanceolatus var. longipes, Thalictrum pubescens, and Trientalis borealis. Mosses include Climacium dendroides, Plagiomnium spp. A floodplain variant may also occur, with more hardwood dominance, with wetter species present, such as Alnus incana, Calamagrostis canadensis, and Caltha palustris. Diagnostic features include the dominance by Fraxinus nigra.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This type description is essentially subboreal in content, emphasizing the northern/western part of the range. It''s possible that this type is only found in northern Minnesota and central to northwestern Ontario, because types that contain a stronger representation of northern hardwoods and other more typical "Laurentian-Acadian" species are placed in ~Acer rubrum - Fraxinus spp. - Betula papyrifera / Cornus canadensis Swamp Forest (CEGL002071)$$. Stands in Michigan and Wisconsin and central Ontario may more consistently fit that type. For examples, see the description in Michigan provided by the Manistee National Forest FEC, ELTP 74 (Cleland et al. 1994), which lists Hamamelis virginiana, Salix spp. Viburnum acerifolium, and Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides in the shrub layer; and descriptions from central Minnesota (MNNHP 1993, Wovcha et al. 1995), which include virtually no conifers, lack a number of boreal species, and include others, such as the shrubs Ilex verticillata and Toxicodendron vernix, and the herbs Arisaema triphyllum, Glyceria striata, Impatiens capensis, Osmunda cinnamomea, and Onoclea sensibilis. A seepage variant has also been described in Minnesota, containing Carex bromoides and Symplocarpus foetidus. This seepage variant may resemble the riparian variant described in northern Ontario (MNNHP 1993, Harris et al. 1996 -W34). Finally, in Wisconsin stands have been described with a tree layer of Fraxinus nigra, Tilia americana, Picea glauca, a ground layer dominated by Matteuccia struthiopteris and Laportea canadensis, and a diverse mix of spring ephemerals that are more typical of southern Wisconsin (E. Epstein pers. comm. 1999).

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available