Print Report

CEGL002426 Juniperus virginiana Alkaline Bluff Woodland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Eastern Red-cedar Alkaline Bluff Woodland

Colloquial Name: Red-cedar Alkaline Bluff Woodland

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This red-cedar alkaline bluff woodland occurs in the Ozarks region of the United States. Stands may have been of minimal extent on blufftops of the White River region in southwestern Missouri. Soils are rapidly drained, very shallow (0-40 cm), and occur over cherty limestone or dolomite, or with bedrock partially exposed at the surface. The vegetation contains an open-tree canopy, sometimes clumped or irregular due to the exposed bedrock. A shrubby or viney layer may or may not be present. Along bluffs, the herbaceous layer is variable. Tree dominants include Juniperus virginiana, with occasional hardwoods such as Quercus muehlenbergii or Fraxinus americana. Ground layer dominants include Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, and Bouteloua curtipendula.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: The concept of the type is taken in part from the Missouri state classification - Dry Limestone/Dolomite Forest (Nelson 1985). However, as described here, the type is restricted to blufftops, hence the understory description provided in Nelson may not entirely apply. The stands may have been of minimal extent on blufftops of the White River region in southwestern Missouri (T. Nigh. pers. comm. 2000). Otherwise, on flatter or gently sloping thin soil habitats, they were more commonly mixed with hardwoods, and can be treated as part of the ~Quercus muehlenbergii - Fraxinus (quadrangulata, americana) / Schizachyrium scoparium Woodland (CEGL002143)$$ or, if more closed canopied, then as a fire-suppressed phase of ~Quercus muehlenbergii - Fraxinus (quadrangulata, americana) / Schizachyrium scoparium Woodland (CEGL002143)$$.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available

Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The vegetation contains an open-tree canopy, sometimes clumped or irregular due to the exposed bedrock. The shrubby or viney layer may or may not be present. Along bluffs, the herbaceous layer is variable. Tree dominants include Juniperus virginiana, with occasional hardwoods, such as Quercus muehlenbergii or Fraxinus americana. Ground layer dominants include Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, and Bouteloua curtipendula (Nelson 1985).

Dynamics:  No Data Available

Environmental Description:  Stands may have been of minimal extent on blufftops of the White River region in southwestern Missouri. Soils are rapidly drained, very shallow (0-40 cm), and occur over cherty limestone or dolomite, or with bedrock partially exposed at the surface (Nelson 1985).

Geographic Range: This type occurs in the Ozarks region of the United States. Stands may have been of minimal extent on blufftops of the White River region in southwestern Missouri.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AR, MO




Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available

Grank: G3

Greasons: No Data Available


Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available

Synonomy: = Juniperus virginiana Alkaline Bluff Woodland (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
>< Limestone/Dolomite Savanna (Nelson 1985)
>< Xeric Limestone/Dolomite Forest (Nelson 1985)

Concept Author(s): P.W. Nelson (1985)

Author of Description: D. Faber-Langendoen

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 03-27-00

  • Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
  • Hop, K., M. Pyne, T. Foti, S. Lubinski, R. White, and J. Dieck. 2012a. National Park Service vegetation inventory program: Buffalo National River, Arkansas. Natural Resource Report NPS/HTLN/NRR--2012/526. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 340 pp.
  • Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
  • Nelson, P. 2010. The terrestrial natural communities of Missouri. Revised edition. Missouri Natural Areas Committee, Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Conservation, Jefferson City.
  • Nelson, P. W. 1985. The terrestrial natural communities of Missouri. Missouri Natural Areas Committee, Jefferson City. 197 pp. Revised edition, 1987.
  • Nigh, Tim A. Personal communication. Ecologist, Missouri Conservation Commission, Jefferson City.