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CEGL007419 Taxodium ascendens / Ilex myrtifolia / Carex (striata, turgescens) Stringer Swamp Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Pond-cypress / Myrtle Dahoon / (Walter''s Sedge, Pine Barren Sedge) Stringer Swamp Forest
Colloquial Name: Pond-cypress Stringer Swamp Forest
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This forested community, often known as "cypress stringers," occurs along small, diffuse creeks or streams, and possibly along larger rivers. Small Taxodium ascendens trees form the fairly open to dense canopy. Shrubs species present include Cyrilla racemiflora, Cliftonia monophylla, Ilex myrtifolia, Clethra alnifolia, Lyonia lucida, and Stillingia aquatica. Carex spp. and Rhynchospora spp. including Carex striata, Carex turgescens, and Rhynchospora microcephala, occur in the water and on the drier edges. Scleria baldwinii and Cladium mariscus ssp. jamaicense can be significant herbaceous components. This community occurs on the Coastal Plain from southeastern South Carolina to northern Florida, and west to southeastern Louisiana. The sandy subsoil is overlain by peat. Fire probably occurs more often here than in other Taxodium ascendens-dominated forests.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: No Data Available
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Small Taxodium ascendens trees form the fairly open to dense canopy. Shrubs species present include Cyrilla racemiflora, Cliftonia monophylla, Ilex myrtifolia, Clethra alnifolia, Lyonia lucida, and Stillingia aquatica. Carex spp. and Rhynchospora spp., including Carex striata, Carex turgescens, and Rhynchospora microcephala (= Rhynchospora cephalantha var. microcephala), occur in the water and on the drier edges. Scleria baldwinii and Cladium mariscus ssp. jamaicense can be significant herbaceous components. An example from Apalachicola National Forest had the following dominants: Taxodium ascendens, Pinus elliottii, Cliftonia monophylla, Clethra alnifolia, Nyssa ursina, Magnolia virginiana, Hypericum fasciculatum, Eriocaulon decangulare, Aristida beyrichiana, Panicum rigidulum, and Smilax laurifolia (NatureServe Ecology unpubl. data). Another Apalachicola National Forest plot had these dominants: Taxodium ascendens, Nyssa biflora, Hypericum chapmanii, Ilex myrtifolia, and Cyrilla racemiflora, with Clethra alnifolia, Lyonia lucida, Rhynchospora microcephala, Pieris phillyreifolia, Cliftonia monophylla, and Smilax laurifolia (NatureServe Ecology unpubl. data). Exotics in southern Florida include Eichhornia crassipes and Hydrilla verticillata (Duever et al. 1984).
Dynamics: The water table in higher sections of this community lowers enough for at least the surface layers of peat to dry and burn occasionally. In depressions with deep peat deposits that generally remain in contact with the water table, the ground is usually moist-wet and burns much less often than the shallower peat areas. Although most natural fires were a result of lightning strikes in early rainy season thunderstorms, most fires now occur in the winter when the peat is too moist to burn.
Cypress communities in general are very long-lived. With a greater accumulation of peat, the graminoid ground cover may decrease and a hardwood understory develop (Wharton et al. 1976).
Cypress communities in general are very long-lived. With a greater accumulation of peat, the graminoid ground cover may decrease and a hardwood understory develop (Wharton et al. 1976).
Environmental Description: This community is situated in elongated depressions serving as seasonal flow ways (Duever et al. 1984). The sandy soils are overlain by peat deposits which are relatively thick in depressions and shallower in higher areas. These soils are occasionally mixed with shell beds and exposed limestone. Carbon dating of the earliest overlying peat deposits indicates these channels have been inundated by freshwater for 5000 years. Due to the slow water velocity and low erosive potential, Taxodium ascendens grows in the riverbed, thus further slowing the velocity and spreading the water farther. Localized peat fires account for deeper holes and sloughs (Wharton et al. 1976).
Geographic Range: This community occurs on the Coastal Plain in southeastern North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and southeastern Louisiana.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684982
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3?Q
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.3 Temperate Flooded & Swamp Forest Formation | F026 | 1.B.3 |
| Division | 1.B.3.Nb Southeastern North American Flooded & Swamp Forest Division | D062 | 1.B.3.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.3.Nb.1 Pond-cypress - Slash Pine Swamp Macrogroup | M161 | 1.B.3.Nb.1 |
| Group | 1.B.3.Nb.1.a Pond-cypress / Holly species Basin Swamp Group | G036 | 1.B.3.Nb.1.a |
| Alliance | A3341 Pond-cypress / Walter''s Sedge Swamp Forest Alliance | A3341 | 1.B.3.Nb.1.a |
| Association | CEGL007419 Pond-cypress / Myrtle Dahoon / (Walter''s Sedge, Pine Barren Sedge) Stringer Swamp Forest | CEGL007419 | 1.B.3.Nb.1.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < IIA5b. Coastal Plain Small Stream Swamp Forest (Allard 1990)
? Pondcypress (23) (USFS 1988)
? Pondcypress: 100 (Eyre 1980)
? Pondcypress (23) (USFS 1988)
? Pondcypress: 100 (Eyre 1980)
- 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.
- Clewell, A. F. 1971. The vegetation of the Apalachicola National Forest: An ecological perspective. Unpublished document. USDA Forest Service, Tallahassee, FL. 152 pp.
- Duever, M. J., J. F. Meeder, and L. C. Duever. 1984. Ecosystems of the Big Cypress Swamp. Pages 294-303 in: K. C. Ewel and H. T. Odum, editors. Cypress swamps. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
- Ewel, K. C., and H. T. Odum, editors. 1984b. Cypress swamps. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
- Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
- FNAI [Florida Natural Areas Inventory]. 2010a. Guide to the natural communities of Florida: 2010 edition. Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee, FL. 228 pp. [https://fnai.org/naturalcommguide.cfm]
- Glitzenstein, J. S., and D. R. Streng. 2004. Evaluating the NatureServe preliminary plant community classification for Francis Marion National Forest. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. Plus appendices and data.
- NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Nelson, J. B. 1986. The natural communities of South Carolina: Initial classification and description. South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Columbia, SC. 55 pp.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- USFS [U.S. Forest Service]. 1988. Silvicultural examination and prescription field book. USDA Forest Service, Southern Region. Atlanta, GA. 35 pp.
- Wharton, C. H., H. T. Odum, K. Ewel, M. Duever, A. Lugo, R. Boyt, J. Bartolomew, E. DeBellevue, S. Brown, M. Brown, and L. Duever. 1976. Forested wetlands of Florida - their management and use. University of Florida, Center for Wetlands. 421 pp.