Print Report
CEGL004445 Pinus echinata - Quercus montana - Quercus stellata / Vaccinium pallidum / Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Shortleaf Pine - Chestnut Oak - Post Oak / Blue Ridge Blueberry / Common Silk-grass Woodland
Colloquial Name: Virginia Shield Pine - Oak Barrens
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community represents "shield barrens" of sandstone areas in southwestern Virginia. These are fire-maintained shortleaf pine - oak woodlands found on edaphically extreme sites. The natural woodland condition is uncommon. The canopy of this association is dominated by Pinus echinata, Quercus montana, and Quercus stellata. A dominant shrub is Vaccinium pallidum. Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia is a characteristic herb.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Additional examples of this community type should be sought elsewhere in the Cumberland Mountains of Virginia and Kentucky. Although this vegetation is primarily controlled by edaphic stresses, occasional fires may also play an important ecological role.
Conceptual overlap between this community and ~Pinus rigida / Schizachyrium scoparium - Sorghastrum nutans - Baptisia tinctoria Woodland (CEGL003617)$$, known only from Pine Mountain, Kentucky, and ~Pinus echinata / Schizachyrium scoparium Appalachian Woodland (CEGL003560)$$, of somewhat broader distribution in the Southern Appalachians, needs resolution.
Conceptual overlap between this community and ~Pinus rigida / Schizachyrium scoparium - Sorghastrum nutans - Baptisia tinctoria Woodland (CEGL003617)$$, known only from Pine Mountain, Kentucky, and ~Pinus echinata / Schizachyrium scoparium Appalachian Woodland (CEGL003560)$$, of somewhat broader distribution in the Southern Appalachians, needs resolution.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Stand physiognomy is a very open woodland with <50% canopy cover of trees generally <15 m tall. Pinus echinata and Quercus montana (= Quercus prinus) are the dominant canopy species, with Carya glabra and Oxydendrum arboreum abundant in lower tree layers. Additional scattered trees include Amelanchier arborea, Quercus velutina, Quercus stellata, Quercus coccinea, Acer rubrum, and Liriodendron tulipifera. The shrub layer is rather sparse (25-40% cover), with scattered clumps of tree saplings, Rhus copallinum, Cornus florida, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron cumberlandense, Kalmia latifolia, Vaccinium pallidum, and Vaccinium stamineum. The herb layer varies from sparse on outcrops to dense and prairie-like on larger soil mats. Sorghastrum nutans and Schizachyrium scoparium are the characteristic grasses of these mats. The occurrence of several species with strong Coastal Plain / Piedmont affinities (in Virginia), including Solidago odora, Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia, Danthonia sericea, Eupatorium album, Dichanthelium laxiflorum, and Sericocarpus linifolius, is notable. Additional characteristic herbs include Carex pensylvanica, Helianthus microcephalus, Clitoria mariana, Symphyotrichum patens (= Aster patens), Coreopsis major, Lysimachia tonsa, Scleria oligantha, Ionactis linariifolius, and many others. Species richness of two plot-sampled stands (n = 60 and 69 taxa per 400 m2) is exceptionally high for pine-oak vegetation in the Cumberland Mountains.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Stands occupy steep, southeast-facing, chevron-shaped sandstone outcrops produced by stream incision at the heads of large hollows on Pine Mountain (in the Cumberland Mountains on the Virginia-Kentucky stateline). Two plot-sampled stands are located in upper-slope topographic positions at about 600 m (2000 feet) elevation. Extensive soil mats are developed on the upslope and downslope edges of the outcrops, but such mats are smaller and more patchy over most of these habitats. Soil chemistry data are not available. Sites are generally xeric and have evidence (charred wood) of past fires.
Geographic Range: This community is known only from the Virginia slopes of Pine Mountain in the Cumberland Mountains on the Virginia-Kentucky stateline, but most likely also occurs on the Kentucky flank of this ridge. Its status elsewhere in the Cumberland Mountains and adjacent parts of the Ridge and Valley province is unknown.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: KY?, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.685025
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 | A3269 Shortleaf Pine - Table Mountain Pine - Chestnut Oak Appalachian Woodland Alliance | A3269 | 1.B.2.Na.2.g |
| Association | CEGL004445 Shortleaf Pine - Chestnut Oak - Post Oak / Blue Ridge Blueberry / Common Silk-grass Woodland | CEGL004445 | 1.B.2.Na.2.g |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Pinus echinata - Quercus prinus - Carya glabra / Sorghastrum nutans - Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia - Solidago odora Woodland (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
- 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 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.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.