Print Report

CEGL006114 Acer saccharum - Fraxinus spp. - Tilia americana / Matteuccia struthiopteris - Ageratina altissima Floodplain Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sugar Maple - Ash species - American Basswood / Ostrich Fern - White Snakeroot Floodplain Forest

Colloquial Name: Terrace Hardwood Floodplain Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: These rich floodplain forests are found on slightly elevated alluvial terraces and active floodplains of larger rivers throughout the glaciated Northeast. The setting is a raised river terrace; however, this forest may occur very close to the riverbank, if the water channel is well-entrenched, and may even be on sloping banks along some river reaches. The alluvial soils are coarse and less regularly inundated than the soils supporting silver maple floodplain forests. Many of our examples occur on circumneutral to slightly calcareous soils. The canopy is closed to somewhat open, and unlike lower elevation floodplain forests, a subcanopy is often present. Shrubs are occasional but do not form high cover. The herb layer is well-developed and seasonally variable, with spring ephemerals giving way to taller ferns, graminoids and forbs. Bryoids are very minor. The canopy dominants can vary from site to site but are usually some combination of Acer saccharum, Tilia americana, Quercus rubra, Ulmus americana, Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Prunus serotina. Minor canopy associates include Acer saccharinum, Juglans cinerea, Fraxinus nigra, and Acer rubrum. Shrubs include Corylus americana, Viburnum lentago, and Prunus virginiana; vines, such as Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus spp., or Vitis spp., may be locally common. The herb layer usually features Matteuccia struthiopteris and a mixture of other ferns, forbs and graminoids. Characteristic species include Ageratina altissima, Allium tricoccum, Allium canadense, Athyrium filix-femina, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Carex gracillima, Carex intumescens, Carex sprengelii, Deparia acrostichoides, Elymus virginicus, Elymus riparius, Elymus wiegandii, Onoclea sensibilis, Sanguinaria canadensis, Solidago flexicaulis, Solidago rugosa, and Solidago gigantea, in addition to abundant spring ephemerals in the early growing season. Exotic species, such as Lysimachia nummularia, Glechoma hederacea, and Hesperis matronalis, may be abundant, especially in disturbed areas. These terrace forests are distinguished from lower floodplain forests by the reduced importance of Acer saccharinum; they differ from enriched northern hardwood forests, e.g., ~Acer saccharum - Fraxinus americana / Acer spicatum / Caulophyllum thalictroides Forest (CEGL006636)$$ and ~Acer saccharum - Tilia americana / Acer pensylvanicum / Caulophyllum thalictroides Forest (CEGL006637)$$, in their alluvial soils and flooding regime; also, Matteuccia struthiopteris is generally not found in enriched northern hardwood forests.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Drastically reduced from original extent, as most make excellent fertile farmland. Originally probably a large patch type; now small patch.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The canopy is closed to somewhat open, and unlike lower-elevation floodplain forests, a subcanopy is often present. Shrubs are occasional, but do not form high cover. The herb layer is well-developed and seasonally variable, with spring ephemerals giving way to taller ferns, graminoids, and forbs. Bryoids are very minor. The canopy dominants can vary from site to site, but are usually some combination of Acer saccharum, Tilia americana, Quercus rubra, Ulmus americana, Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Prunus serotina. Minor canopy associates include Acer saccharinum, Juglans cinerea, Fraxinus nigra, and Acer rubrum. Shrubs include Corylus americana, Viburnum lentago, and Prunus virginiana; vines such as Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus spp., or Vitis spp. may be locally common. The herb layer usually features Matteuccia struthiopteris and a mixture of other ferns, forbs, and graminoids. Characteristic species include Ageratina altissima (= Eupatorium rugosum), Allium tricoccum, Allium canadense, Athyrium filix-femina, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Carex gracillima, Carex intumescens, Carex sprengelii, Deparia acrostichoides, Elymus virginicus, Elymus riparius, Elymus wiegandii (= Elymus canadensis var. wiegandii), Onoclea sensibilis, Sanguinaria canadensis, Solidago flexicaulis, Solidago rugosa, and Solidago gigantea in addition to abundant spring ephemerals in the early growing season. Exotic species, such as Lysimachia nummularia, Glechoma hederacea, and Hesperis matronalis, may be abundant, especially in disturbed areas.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  These rich floodplain forests are found on slightly elevated alluvial terraces as well as active floodplains of larger rivers throughout the glaciated Northeast. The setting is a raised river terrace; however, this forest may occur very close to the riverbank if the water channel is well entrenched, and may even be on sloping banks along some river reaches. The alluvial soils are coarse and less regularly inundated than the soils supporting silver maple floodplain forests. Many of our examples occur on circumneutral to slightly calcareous soils.
Geographic Range: This association occurs in the glaciated Northeast from New Brunswick, Canada, to New Jersey.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  CT, MA, MD, ME, NB, NH, NY, PA, QC?, VT


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

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.Na Eastern North American-Great Plains Flooded & Swamp Forest Division D011 1.B.3.Na
Macrogroup 1.B.3.Na.3 <i>Tsuga canadensis - Fraxinus nigra - Larix laricina</i> Flooded & Swamp Forest Macrogroup M504 1.B.3.Na.3
Group 1.B.3.Na.3.a Silver Maple - Green Ash - Black Ash Floodplain Forest Group G653 1.B.3.Na.3.a
Alliance A3714 Sugar Maple - American Basswood Mesic Floodplain Forest Alliance A3714 1.B.3.Na.3.a
Association CEGL006114 Sugar Maple - Ash species - American Basswood / Ostrich Fern - White Snakeroot Floodplain Forest CEGL006114 1.B.3.Na.3.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Acer saccharum - Acer saccharinum - Fraxinus americana variant (Type 5) (Sperduto and Crowley 2002a)
? Riverine floodplain forest: terraces (NAP pers. comm. 1998)
? SNE Riverside/streamside mesic, deciduous forest (Rawinski 1984a)
< Sugar Maple - Basswood: 26 (Eyre 1980)
Concept Author(s): Northern Appalachian Planning Team

Author of Description: S.C. Gawler

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-27-03
  • Breden, T. F. 1989. A preliminary natural community classification for New Jersey. Pages 157-191 in: E. F. Karlin, editor. New Jersey''s rare and endangered plants and animals. Institute for Environmental Studies, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ. 280 pp.
  • Breden, T. F., Y. R. Alger, K. S. Walz, and A. G. Windisch. 2001. Classification of vegetation communities of New Jersey: Second iteration. Association for Biodiversity Information and New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton.
  • 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.
  • Edinger, G. J., A. L. Feldmann, T. G. Howard, J. J. Schmid, F. C. Sechler, E. Eastman, E. Largay, L. A. Sneddon, C. Lea, and J. Von Loh. 2014b. Vegetation inventory: Saratoga National Historical Park, New York. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NETN/NRTR--2014/869, National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO.
  • Edinger, G. J., D. J. Evans, S. Gebauer, T. G. Howard, D. M. Hunt, and A. M. Olivero, editors. 2014a. Ecological communities of New York state. Second edition. A revised and expanded edition of Carol Reschke''s ecological communities of New York state. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
  • Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
  • Gawler, S. C. 2002. Natural landscapes of Maine: A guide to vegetated natural communities and ecosystems. Maine Natural Areas Program, Department of Conservation, Augusta, ME.
  • Gawler, S. C., and A. Cutko. 2010. Natural landscapes of Maine: A classification of vegetated natural communities and ecosystems. Maine Natural Areas Program, Department of Conservation, Augusta.
  • Harrison, J. W. 2011. The natural communities of Maryland: 2011 working list of ecological community groups and community types. Unpublished report. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, Natural Heritage Program, Annapolis. 33 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W., and P. Stango, III. 2003. Shrubland tidal wetland communities of Maryland''s Eastern Shore: Identification, assessment and monitoring. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 118 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W., compiler. 2004. Classification of vegetation communities of Maryland: First iteration. A subset of the International Classification of Ecological Communities: Terrestrial Vegetation of the United States, NatureServe. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 243 pp.
  • Metzler, K., and J. Barrett. 2006. The vegetation of Connecticut: A preliminary classification. State Geological and Natural History Survey, Report of Investigations No. 12. Connecticut Natural Diversity Database, Hartford, CT.
  • NAP [Northern Appalachian-Boreal Forest Working Group]. 1998. Northern Appalachian-Boreal Working group discussions. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA.
  • NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service]. 2004a. Soil survey of Saratoga County, New York. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. 590 pp.
  • PNHP [Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program]. 2002. Classification, assessment and protection of forested floodplain wetlands of the Susquehanna Drainage. U.S. EPA Wetlands Protection State Development Grant no. CD-993731. Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Ecological Services Section. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Harrisburg, PA.
  • Rawinski, T. 1984a. Natural community description abstract - southern New England calcareous seepage swamp. Unpublished report. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA. 6 pp.
  • Rhoads, A. F., and T. A. Block. 2008a. Natural areas inventory update, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Montgomery County Planning Commission, Norristown, PA.
  • Sperduto, D. D., and K. F. Crowley. 2002a. Floodplain forests in New England: Analysis and proposed classification. In collaboration with natural heritage programs in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. New Hampshire Natural Heritage Inventory, DRED Division of Forests and Lands, Concord, NH. 19 pp. plus appendices.
  • Sperduto, D. D., and W. F. Nichols. 2004. Natural communities of New Hampshire: A guide and classification. New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau, DRED Division of Forests and Lands, Concord. 242 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. 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.
  • Zimmerman, E. A. 2011j. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. Sugar Maple - Mixed Hardwood Floodplain Forest Factsheet. [http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Community.aspx?=30017] (accessed January 31, 2012)
  • Zimmerman, E. A., T. Davis, M. A. Furedi, B. Eichelberger, J. McPherson, S. Seymour, G. Podniesinski, N. Dewar, and J. Wagner, editors. 2012. Terrestrial and palustrine plant communities of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Harrisburg. [http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Communities.aspx]
  • Zimmerman, E., and G. Podniesinski. 2008. Classification, assessment and protection of floodplain wetlands of the Ohio Drainage. U.S. EPA Wetlands Protection State Development Grant no. CD-973081-01-0. Report submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Office of Conservation Science. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pittsburgh, PA.