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CEGL008528 Tilia americana - Fraxinus americana / Acer pensylvanicum / Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Impatiens pallida Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Basswood - White Ash / Striped Maple / Virginia Creeper - Pale Touch-me-not Woodland
Colloquial Name: Central Appalachian Basic Boulderfield Forest (Montane Basswood - White Ash Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community type occurs throughout the northern Blue Ridge in Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia, and more locally in the western Virginia Ridge and Valley region. Sites include steep, boulder and stone slides below cliffs; boulder-filled slope concavities and hollow-heads; and other very rocky, submesic to mesic habitats at middle elevations between 760 and 1030 m (2500-3400 feet). This is an open to closed, mixed hardwood forest, with tall, well-formed trees. Because of somewhat unstable substrates and occasional exposure to severe wind and ice storms, downfalls and crown damage may be frequent in some stands. Tilia americana (including both var. americana and var. heterophylla), Fraxinus americana, and Quercus rubra are the most abundant, variably dominant or codominant canopy trees. Carya cordiformis, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Carya ovata are minor but constant canopy associates. Understory layers tend to be open, with Acer pensylvanicum, Ostrya virginiana, Sambucus racemosa, and Ribes rotundifolium the most characteristic species. The usually patchy herb layer varies greatly in richness and density with substrate conditions.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Classification of this unit is supported by 20 plots from Alleghany, Amherst, Botetourt, Greene, Madison, Page, Rappahannock, Rockbridge, and Rockingham counties, Virginia (G. Fleming pers. comm.). Boulderfield forests and woodlands have not been thoroughly inventoried in Virginia and elsewhere. The global ranges and ecological relationships of this and other units are not well known and require additional study. In particular, the distribution and status of this association (CEGL008528) in the Ridge and Valley province needs clarification. The distribution of this community type in the northern Blue Ridge appears to be centered above 760 m (2500 feet) elevation, where Liriodendron tulipifera begins to reach its upper elevational limits. Above 1000 to 1060 m (3300-3500 feet) (depending on aspect) elevation, this type is replaced by ~Betula alleghaniensis / Sorbus americana - Acer spicatum / Polypodium appalachianum Forest (CEGL008504)$$.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Stand physiognomy is an open to closed, mixed hardwood forest, with tall, well-formed trees. Because of somewhat unstable substrates and occasional exposure to severe wind and ice storms, downfalls and crown damage may be frequent in some stands. Tilia americana (including both var. americana and var. heterophylla), Fraxinus americana, and Quercus rubra are the most abundant, variably dominant or codominant canopy trees. More locally, Betula lenta and Acer saccharum are codominants in the mixtures, although the latter is absent from the majority of plot-sampled stands. Carya cordiformis, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Carya ovata are minor but constant canopy associates. Understory layers tend to be open, with Acer pensylvanicum, Ostrya virginiana, Sambucus racemosa (= Sambucus pubens), and Ribes rotundifolium the most characteristic species. The usually patchy herb layer varies greatly in richness and density with substrate conditions. Scrambling vines of Parthenocissus quinquefolia, along with the forbs Impatiens pallida, Laportea canadensis, and Ageratina altissima, constitute much of the herb-layer cover. Additional more-or-less constant herbs include Actaea racemosa (= Cimicifuga racemosa), Arisaema triphyllum, Asarum canadense, Dryopteris marginalis, Eurybia divaricata (= Aster divaricatus), Galium triflorum, Hydrophyllum virginianum, Osmorhiza claytonii, and Polymnia canadensis, all of which are well-adapted to the interstices and moss mats of very bouldery/rocky habitats. On sites with slightly better development of mineral soils, a larger variety of nutrient-demanding herbs (e.g., Caulophyllum thalictroides, Trillium grandiflorum, Viola canadensis) may be present. Species richness of plot-sampled stands ranges from 14 to 59 taxa per 400 m2 (mean = 40).
Dynamics: Juglans cinerea was formerly a frequent associate of this community but has been nearly eliminated in recent decades by a canker dieback caused by the fungus Melanconis juglandis.
Environmental Description: Sites include steep, boulder and stone slides below cliffs; boulder-filled slope concavities and hollow-heads; and other very rocky, submesic to mesic habitats at middle elevations. Most plot-sampled stands are situated between 760 and 1030 m (2500-3400 feet) elevation, but stands occasionally occur as low as 450 m (1500 feet). The community is most frequent and characteristic of sites underlain by Catoctin metabasalt (greenstone) but also occurs locally on base-rich granitic rocks of the Blue Ridge basement complex, e.g., layered pyroxene granulite, charnockite, and porphyritic leucocharnockite. Scattered boulderfield habitats for this community in the Ridge and Valley province are derived from calcareous shales and siltstones. Stands occur at lower, middle, and upper slope topographic positions. Mean slope in plots is 23°. Rock cover (bedrock, boulders, and/or stones) is essentially continuous, but surficial exposure of rocks averages 50%, with leaf litter (47%) and decaying wood (3%) comprising the remainder of the substrate. Soils are mostly interstitial, have high organic content (mean = 23%), and are generally difficult to extract. Samples collected from plots are very strongly acidic (mean pH = 4.7) but have moderately high calcium, magnesium, and manganese levels (up to 4628 ppm, 372 ppm, and 269 ppm, respectively).
Geographic Range: This community type occurs in suitable habitats throughout the northern Blue Ridge in Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia, and more locally in the western Virginia Ridge and Valley region. Stands assigned to this type but somewhat transitional to northern hardwood forest, ~Betula alleghaniensis - Quercus rubra / Acer spicatum / Dryopteris intermedia - Oclemena acuminata Forest (CEGL008502)$$, also occur on the northwest flank of Peters Mountain in Alleghany County, Virginia. Similar forests have been observed in a few other sites of the western Virginia Ridge and Valley region.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: MD, PA, VA, WV
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.685669
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3
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.3 Appalachian-Interior-Northeastern Mesic Forest Macrogroup | M883 | 1.B.2.Na.3 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.3.b Appalachian-Allegheny Northern Hardwood Forest | G742 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
| Alliance | A4126 Sugar Maple - American Basswood - Northern Red Oak Rocky Forest Alliance | A4126 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
| Association | CEGL008528 American Basswood - White Ash / Striped Maple / Virginia Creeper - Pale Touch-me-not Woodland | CEGL008528 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: > Liriodendron tulipifera - Acer saccharum - Tilia americana / Laportea canadensis - Impatiens pallida Association, pro parte (Rawinski et al. 1996)
= Tilia americana - Fraxinus americana / Acer pensylvanicum - Ostrya virginiana / Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Impatiens pallida Woodland (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
> Tilia americana - Fraxinus americana / Ostrya virginiana / Ageratina altissima Forest (Fleming and Moorhead 2000)
= Tilia americana - Fraxinus americana / Acer pensylvanicum - Ostrya virginiana / Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Impatiens pallida Woodland (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
> Tilia americana - Fraxinus americana / Ostrya virginiana / Ageratina altissima Forest (Fleming and Moorhead 2000)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- 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 K. Taverna. 2006. Vegetation classification for the National Capitol Region parks, western region. Regional (VA-WVA-MD-DC) analysis prepared for NatureServe and USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program, March 2006. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
- 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.
- Fleming, G. P., and W. H. Moorhead, III. 2000. Plant communities and ecological land units of the Peter''s Mountain area, James River Ranger District, George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 00-07. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. Unpublished report submitted to the USDA Forest Service. 195 pp. plus appendices.
- 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., 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.
- Rawinski, T. J., K. N. Hickman, J. Waller-Eling, G. P. Fleming, C. S. Austin, S. D. Helmick, C. Huber, G. Kappesser, F. C. Huber, Jr., T. Bailey, and T. K. Collins. 1996. Plant communities and ecological land units of the Glenwood Ranger District, George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. Natural Heritage Technical Report 96-20. Richmond. 65 pp. plus appendices.
- WVNHP [West Virginia Natural Heritage Program]. No date. Unpublished data. West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, Elkins.
- Young, J., G. Fleming, P. Townsend, and J. Foster. 2006. Vegetation of Shenandoah National Park in relation to environmental gradients. Final Report (v.1.1). Research technical report prepared for USDI, National Park Service. USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. 92 pp. plus appendices.
- Young, J., G. Fleming, W. Cass, and C. Lea. 2009. Vegetation of Shenandoah National Park in relation to environmental gradients, Version 2.0. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2009/142. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 389 pp.