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CEGL007707 Schizachyrium scoparium - Andropogon (gyrans, ternarius, virginicus) Grassland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Little Bluestem - (Elliott''s Bluestem, Splitbeard Bluestem, Broomsedge Bluestem) Grassland
Colloquial Name: Little Bluestem - Bluestem Grassland
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This mixed-grass association represents a variety of essentially native perennial grasslands which are (or have been) human-maintained to some extent and which contain a variable mix of Schizachyrium scoparium with Andropogon spp. It may occur on annually mowed powerline rights-of-way, mowed successional or abandoned agricultural fields, pastures, etc. Examples are known from the Eastern and Western Highland Rim of Tennessee, related areas of Kentucky, as well as possibly Alabama. It is described and documented from the Cumberland Plateau and Interior Low Plateau, but it could range into the adjacent Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain. Schizachyrium scoparium is codominant along with a variable mixture of the nominal Andropogon species. In examples from the Eastern Highland Rim of Coffee County, Tennessee (Arnold Air Force Base), other dominant grasses may include Dichanthelium aciculare, Gymnopogon brevifolius, and Dichanthelium dichotomum var. dichotomum. On the Western Highland Rim of middle Tennessee, these barrens occur on winter-wet, summer-dry loessal soils, which are generally deep, with chert fragments; rock outcrops are absent. The presence of this vegetation may be related to remnant surficial deposits of Cretaceous gravels which remain on some of the high flat ridges in this landscape. Some forbs found in these examples include Asclepias amplexicaulis, Sericocarpus linifolius, Boltonia sp., Comandra umbellata, Eupatorium album, Eupatorium serotinum, Galium pilosum, Helianthus atrorubens, Helianthus mollis, Hypericum virgatum, Hypericum punctatum, Mimosa microphylla, Monarda fistulosa, Parthenium integrifolium, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, Rudbeckia hirta, Sabatia angularis, and Tephrosia virginiana.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Described from Arnold Air Force Base, Coffee County, Tennessee. See also ~Andropogon gerardii - Schizachyrium scoparium - (Calamagrostis coarctata, Panicum virgatum) Grassland (CEGL007706)$$, which is more mesic and has a more limited distribution.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: In stands of this association, Schizachyrium scoparium is codominant along with a variable mixture of the nominal Andropogon species. In examples from the Eastern Highland Rim of Coffee County, Tennessee (Arnold Air Force Base), other dominant grasses may include Dichanthelium aciculare (= Dichanthelium angustifolium), Gymnopogon brevifolius, and Dichanthelium dichotomum var. dichotomum (= Dichanthelium dichotomum var. ramulosum). Other common species may include Eurybia hemispherica (= Aster paludosus ssp. hemisphericus), Symphyotrichum dumosum (= Aster dumosus), Sericocarpus linifolius (= Aster solidagineus), Coreopsis major, Eupatorium hyssopifolium, Eupatorium rotundifolium, Helianthus angustifolius, Liatris microcephala, Liatris spicata, Packera anonyma (= Senecio anonymus), Solidago juncea, Solidago odora, Chamaecrista fasciculata, Chamaecrista nictitans, Lespedeza capitata, Stylosanthes biflora, Lobelia puberula, Diodia teres, Potentilla simplex, Aristida longespica, Calamagrostis coarctata, Dichanthelium dichotomum, Sorghastrum nutans, Pteridium aquilinum, and Smilax glauca. At Arnold Air Force Base, one possibly distinctive phase of this vegetation is found on less well-drained soils (Tyler loam and Holston loam). The dominant species here are Andropogon virginicus, Schizachyrium scoparium, Dichanthelium scoparium, Dichanthelium dichotomum, and Sorghastrum nutans. Other common species in this phase include Diodia teres, Aristida dichotoma, Aristida longespica, Paspalum laeve, Calamagrostis coarctata, Chasmanthium laxum, Gymnopogon brevifolius, Panicum anceps, and Eleocharis microcarpa. Examples from other situations may exhibit a different mix of native forbs.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This association may occur on annually mowed powerline rights-of-way, mowed successional or abandoned agricultural fields, roadsides, pastures, etc.
Geographic Range: The full range of this type is not known, but it could be scattered across the Cumberland Plateau, southern Interior Low Plateau of Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee, on various substrates. It could be found in the adjacent Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain, but no examples there have been documented.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL?, KY, TN
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.685206
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3?
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.3 Little Bluestem - Dropseed species Central Interior Calcareous Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup | M508 | 2.B.2.Nc.3 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nc.3.a Big Bluestem - Little Bluestem - Ashy Sunflower Patch Prairie Group | G174 | 2.B.2.Nc.3.a |
| Alliance | A3890 Little Bluestem - Splitbeard Bluestem - Sideoats Grama Patch Prairie Alliance | A3890 | 2.B.2.Nc.3.a |
| Association | CEGL007707 Little Bluestem - (Elliott''s Bluestem, Splitbeard Bluestem, Broomsedge Bluestem) Grassland | CEGL007707 | 2.B.2.Nc.3.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Schizachyrium scoparium - Andropogon (gyrans, ternarius, virginicus) Herbaceous Vegetation (TNC 1998a)
? Gravel Barrens (DeSelm 1988)
? Gravel Barrens (DeSelm 1988)
- DeSelm, H. R. 1988. The barrens of the western Highland Rim of Tennessee. Pages 199-219 in: D. H. Snyder, editor. Proceedings of the first annual symposium on the natural history of the lower Tennessee and Cumberland river valleys. Austin Peay St. University, Center for Field Biology, Clarksville, TN.
- Palmer-Ball, B., Jr., J. J. N. Campbell, M. E. Medley, D. T. Towles, J. R. MacGregor, and R. R. Cicerello. 1988. Cooperative inventory of endangered, threatened, sensitive and rare species, Daniel Boone National Forest, Somerset Ranger District. USDA Forest Service, Daniel Boone National Forest, Berea, KY. 244 pp.
- Pyne, M., E. Lunsford Jones, and R. White. 2010. Vascular plant inventory and plant community classification for Mammoth Cave National Park. NatureServe, Durham, NC. 334 pp.
- Schmalzer, P. A., and H. R. DeSelm. 1982. Vegetation, endangered and threatened plants, critical plant habitats and vascular flora of the Obed Wild and Scenic River. Unpublished report. USDI National Park Service, Obed Wild and Scenic River. 2 volumes. 369 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.
- TNC [The Nature Conservancy]. 1998a. An investigation and assessment of the vegetation of Arnold Air Force Base. Coffee and Franklin counties, Tennessee. The Nature Conservancy, Tennessee Field Office, Nashville. 37 pp. plus appendices.