Print Report
CEGL006178 Tsuga caroliniana - Pinus (rigida, pungens, virginiana) Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Carolina Hemlock - (Pitch Pine, Table Mountain Pine, Virginia Pine) Forest
Colloquial Name: Carolina Hemlock Forest (Pine Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association is known from shallow soils over sedimentary and metasedimentary rock strata on exposed ridges and southwest-facing slopes above 610 m (2000 feet) elevation in the Southern Blue Ridge and upper Piedmont of North Carolina and Tennessee. This xeric forest community is dominated by a mixture of Tsuga caroliniana and any or all of the following pine species: Pinus rigida, Pinus virginiana, and/or Pinus pungens. Additional canopy species may include Quercus montana, Quercus rubra, and Carya glabra. The structure of the canopy varies from closed to open depending on disturbance history and environment. The patchy to open shrub layer of Tennessee occurrences is characterized by Buckleya distichophylla and Rhododendron minus in the upper shrub layer, and Vaccinium pallidum and Gaultheria procumbens in the lower shrub layer. The patchy to open herbaceous layer is characterized by Schizachyrium scoparium. As much as 25% of the ground cover may contain lichens, including Cladonia rangiferina and Cladonia subtenuis.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association is currently recognized as distinct from ~Tsuga caroliniana / Kalmia latifolia - Rhododendron catawbiense Forest (CEGL007139)$$, due to the presence of Pinus species, which may be related to landform and exposure or past fire history or both. The long-term impact of hemlock woolly adelgid on Tsuga caroliniana needs systematic study. The role of fires in the ecology of Tsuga caroliniana communities is also unclear, since evidence of stand expansion following both fires and periods of fire exclusion have been noted (Schafale and Weakley 1990). Three plots from the Cherokee National Forest (CHER.28, CHER.39, APPA.597), from slopes and ridgetops over the Doe and Nolichucky rivers, were classified as this association in the Appalachian Trail classification project (Fleming and Patterson 2009a). Species with 100% constancy in these three plots include Tsuga caroliniana, Pinus pungens, Pinus virginiana, Rhododendron minus, and Oxydendrum arboreum.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This xeric forest community is dominated by a mixture of Tsuga caroliniana and any or all of the following pine species: Pinus rigida, Pinus virginiana, and/or Pinus pungens. Additional canopy species may include Quercus montana (= Quercus prinus), Quercus rubra, and Carya glabra. The structure of the canopy varies from closed to open depending on disturbance history and environment. The patchy to open shrub layer of Tennessee occurrences is characterized by Buckleya distichophylla and Rhododendron minus in the upper shrub layer, and Vaccinium pallidum and Gaultheria procumbens in the lower shrub layer. The patchy to open herbaceous layer is characterized by Schizachyrium scoparium. As much as 25% of the ground cover may contain lichens, including Cladonia rangiferina (= Cladina rangiferina) and Cladonia subtenuis (= Cladina subtenuis).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This association is known from shallow soils over sedimentary and metasedimentary rock strata on exposed ridges and southwest-facing slopes above 610 m (2000 feet) elevation in the Southern Blue Ridge and upper Piedmont of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Geographic Range: This association is known to occur in the Southern Blue Ridge of North Carolina and Tennessee. It may also range into Virginia, but its presence there is not currently verified.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: NC, TN
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684046
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 1 Forest & Woodland Class | C01 | 1 |
| Subclass | 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass | S15 | 1.B |
| Formation | 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F008 | 1.B.2 |
| Division | 1.B.2.Na Eastern North American Forest & Woodland Division | D008 | 1.B.2.Na |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.2.Na.2 Appalachian-Northeastern Oak - Hardwood - Pine Forest & Woodland Macrogroup | M502 | 1.B.2.Na.2 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.2.g Table Mountain Pine - Virginia Pine - Pitch Pine Woodland & Barrens Group | G905 | 1.B.2.Na.2.g |
| Alliance | A0144 Carolina Hemlock Woodland Alliance | A0144 | 1.B.2.Na.2.g |
| Association | CEGL006178 Carolina Hemlock - (Pitch Pine, Table Mountain Pine, Virginia Pine) Forest | CEGL006178 | 1.B.2.Na.2.g |
Concept Lineage: Woodland type merged with forest type.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Carolina Hemlock Bluff (Schafale and Weakley 1990)
< Eastern Hemlock: 23 (Eyre 1980) [presumably, although Carolina Hemlock is not mentioned.]
< IA6g. Carolina Hemlock Bluff Forest (Allard 1990)
< Eastern Hemlock: 23 (Eyre 1980) [presumably, although Carolina Hemlock is not mentioned.]
< IA6g. Carolina Hemlock Bluff Forest (Allard 1990)
- Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.
- Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
- Fleming, G. P., and K. D. Patterson. 2009a. A vegetation classification for the Appalachian Trail: Virginia south to Georgia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. In-house analysis, March 2009.
- NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. No date. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
- Schafale, M. P. 2012. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina, 4th Approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.
- Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- TDNH [Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage]. 2018. Unpublished data. Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage, Nashville, TN.