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CEGL006104 Adiantum aleuticum - Asplenium spp. - Cerastium arvense Sparse Vegetation
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Aleutian Maidenhair - Spleenwort species - Field Chickweed Sparse Vegetation
Colloquial Name: Eastern Serpentine Outcrop
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This sparsely vegetated serpentine outcrop community occurs in a few locations in central and northern New England. It is found on small exposed bedrock outcrops of ultra-mafic rock such as serpentinite or dunite. The comparatively high magnesium, iron, nickel and chromium levels of this rock create soil conditions that only a few plant species are able to withstand. Slope may be gentle or steep. The few plants that occur are located in small cracks and crevices on the rock surface. Characteristic species include Asplenium trichomanes, Campanula rotundifolia, Cerastium arvense, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia flexuosa, Poa compressa, Minuartia stricta, and Moehringia macrophylla. Woody plants, if present, are stunted individuals. Eastern populations of the maidenhair fern Adiantum aleuticum, and all known populations of Adiantum viridimontanum are restricted to this community.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: The Vermont examples of this community are larger and somewhat more coherent in terms of species composition than the Massachusetts occurrences. Related vegetation occurs on a serpentine outcrop at one site in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Additionally, in Canada, similar vegetation may be represented on Mount Albert in the Gaspe Peninsula, in the Thetford District of Quebec and perhaps in Newfoundland as well. The relationship between these possible occurrences and the community type described here needs further evaluation.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The few plants that occur are located in small cracks and crevices on the rock surface. Characteristic species include Asplenium trichomanes, Campanula rotundifolia, Cerastium arvense, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia flexuosa, Poa compressa, Minuartia stricta, and Moehringia macrophylla. Woody plants, if present, are stunted individuals. Eastern populations of the maidenhair fern Adiantum aleuticum, and all known populations of Adiantum viridimontanum are restricted to this community. The rare species Minuartia marcescens has been reported from one site in Vermont.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This sparsely vegetated serpentine outcrop community is found on small exposed bedrock outcrops of ultra-mafic rock such as serpentinite or dunite. The comparatively high magnesium, iron, nickel and chromium levels of this rock create soil conditions that only a few plant species are able to withstand. Slope may be gentle or steep.
Geographic Range: Reported only from serpentine areas in Massachusetts and Vermont. The taxonomic relationship to serpentine vegetation in maritime Canada has not yet been analyzed, however.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: MA, NF, QC?, VT
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.685488
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1G2
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.4 Laurentian -Acidic Rocky Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup | M505 | 2.B.2.Nc.4 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nc.4.a Laurentian-Acadian Acidic Scrub & Grassland Group | G788 | 2.B.2.Nc.4.a |
| Alliance | A4110 <i>Vaccinium angustifolium - Vaccinium pallidum</i> Northern Rocky Heath Alliance | A4110 | 2.B.2.Nc.4.a |
| Association | CEGL006104 Aleutian Maidenhair - Spleenwort species - Field Chickweed Sparse Vegetation | CEGL006104 | 2.B.2.Nc.4.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Boreal serpentine outcrop (NAP pers. comm. 1998)
? SNE Serpentine Outcrop Community (Rawinski 1984a)
= Serpentine Outcrop (Thompson and Sorenson 2000)
> Ultramafic plant community (Zika and Dann 1985)
? SNE Serpentine Outcrop Community (Rawinski 1984a)
= Serpentine Outcrop (Thompson and Sorenson 2000)
> Ultramafic plant community (Zika and Dann 1985)
- CDPNQ [Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec]. No date. Unpublished data. Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec, Québec.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- NAP [Northern Appalachian-Boreal Forest Working Group]. 1998. Northern Appalachian-Boreal Working group discussions. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA.
- Rawinski, T. 1984a. Natural community description abstract - southern New England calcareous seepage swamp. Unpublished report. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA. 6 pp.
- Reed, C. F. 1986. Floras of the serpentine formations in eastern North America, with descriptions of geomorphology and mineralogy of the formations. Contributions of the Reed Herbarium No. 30. Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore, MD. 858 pp.
- Swain, P. C., and J. B. Kearsley. 2014. Classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts. Version 2.0. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Westborough, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/nhesp/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/natural-communities/classification-of-natural-communities.html]
- Thompson, E. H., and E. R. Sorenson. 2000. Wetland, woodland, wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont. The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH. 456 pp.
- Thompson, E. H., and E. R. Sorenson. 2005. Wetland, woodland, wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont. The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH. 456 pp.
- Zika, P. F., and K. T. Dann. 1985. Rare plants on ultramafic soils in Vermont. Rhodora 87:293-304.