Print Report
CEGL008509 Minuartia groenlandica - Paronychia argyrocoma - Saxifraga michauxii Outcrop Barrens
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Greenland Stitchwort - Silvery Nailwort - Michaux''s Saxifrage Outcrop Barrens
Colloquial Name: High-Elevation Outcrop Barrens (Greenland Stitchwort Igneous / Metamorphic Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community is known from only two sites in the Virginia Blue Ridge. The type occupies open, convex, rocky summits at elevations of about 1200 m (3950 feet) on Buffalo Mountain and 1170 m (3850 feet) on Spy Rock. The moisture regime of these sites is xeric, and soil development is limited to shallow accumulations of disintegrated rock and humus. The community is characterized by herbaceous vegetation with very low species richness. A few small (<0.5 m tall) individuals of Kalmia latifolia, Rhododendron catawbiense, and Vaccinium pallidum are present, contributing <1% cover. Total herbaceous cover varies from 5-40%, with plants rooting in crevices, moss, and thin soil deposits. Minuartia groenlandica and Paronychia argyrocoma form locally abundant mats or cushions.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: There are outstanding questions about the relationship of this community to similar associations of high-elevation rocky summits. Quantitative analysis of plot data for this project strongly supports the segregation of this type from communities of high-elevation greenstone outcrops on the northern Virginia Blue Ridge. The latter community type, ~Diervilla lonicera - Solidago simplex var. randii - Deschampsia flexuosa - Hylotelephium telephioides - Saxifraga michauxii Grassland (CEGL008536)$$, is not known to occur on national forest land. In a regional analysis (1134 plots) for the Southern Appalachian portion of the Appalachian Trail, plots from Buffalo Mountain were analyzed in a subset with other high-elevation balds and rock outcrop data from North Carolina and Tennessee (Fleming and Patterson 2009a). The two plots representing this type performed as a discrete group that was sufficiently distinct from similar associations.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The community is characterized by herbaceous vegetation with very low species richness (mean = 9 taxa per 100 m2 in plots). A few small (<0.5 m tall) individuals of Kalmia latifolia, Rhododendron catawbiense, and Vaccinium pallidum are present, contributing <1% cover. Total herbaceous cover varies from 5-40%, with plants rooting in crevices, moss, and thin soil deposits. Minuartia groenlandica and Paronychia argyrocoma form locally abundant mats or cushions. Other constant, relatively abundant herbs are Schizachyrium scoparium, Danthonia spicata, and Saxifraga michauxii. Bulbostylis capillaris and Agrostis perennans are abundant herbaceous associates at Spy Rock, while the subshrub Sibbaldiopsis tridentata is conspicuous at Buffalo Mountain.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: The type occupies open, convex, rocky summits at elevations of about 1200 m (3950 feet) on Buffalo Mountain and 1170 m (3850 feet) on Spy Rock. Mean surface cover of bedrock and boulders in three plot-sampled stands is 90%. Mean moss / lichen cover on these rocks is 72%. The moisture regime of these sites is xeric, and soil development is limited to shallow accumulations of disintegrated rock and humus. These habitats are periodically exposed to extreme winter temperatures, high winds, and ice.
Geographic Range: This community is known from only two sites in the Virginia Blue Ridge. At the summit of Spy Rock in Nelson County (Northern Blue Ridge), it occupies about 0.4 ha (1 acre) on an exposed, strongly convex outcrop of leucocharnockite, a granitic rock. At the summit of Buffalo Mountain in Floyd County (Southern Blue Ridge), it covers a similar area on open amphibolite outcrops.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684945
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.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.2 Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation | F012 | 2.B.2 |
| Division | 2.B.2.Nc Eastern North American Grassland & Shrubland Division | D024 | 2.B.2.Nc |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.2.Nc.1 Catawba Rosebay / Michaux''s Saxifrage - Flattened Oatgrass Felsic & Mafic Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup | M506 | 2.B.2.Nc.1 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nc.1.d Wretched Sedge - Michaux''s Saxifrage - Highbush Blueberry Appalachian Rocky Outcrop Group | G670 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.d |
| Alliance | A1621 Michaux''s Saxifrage - Wretched Sedge - Little Bluestem Rocky Grassland Alliance | A1621 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.d |
| Association | CEGL008509 Greenland Stitchwort - Silvery Nailwort - Michaux''s Saxifrage Outcrop Barrens | CEGL008509 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Minuartia groenlandica - Paronychia argyrocoma - Saxifraga michauxii Herbaceous Vegetation (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
? Paronychia argyrocoma - Potentilla tridentata - Arenaria groenlandica Association (Rawinski and Wieboldt 1993)
? Paronychia argyrocoma - Potentilla tridentata - Arenaria groenlandica Association (Rawinski and Wieboldt 1993)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Rawinski, T. J., and T. F. Wieboldt. 1993. Classification and ecological interpretation of mafic glade vegetation on Buffalo Mountain, Floyd County, Virginia. Banisteria 2:3-10.