Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Northern Red Oak - Red Maple - Birch species - Eastern White Pine Ruderal Forest

Colloquial Name: Northeastern Ruderal Oak - Red Maple Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This deciduous to mixed forest of northern New England is a broadly defined community, usually developing after severe disturbance, including clearing, pasturing, logging, fires, severe hurricanes, or simply heavily fragmented residential development. While in some cases it is a successional type, it may persist in some settings, particularly where soils are limited, for example along ridgelines. The canopy trees are mostly 40-100 years old. The canopy ranges from somewhat open to closed; the shrub, herb and bryoid layers are patchy and rarely extensive. Composition is variable depending on site history. The canopy is usually mostly deciduous, dominated by a heterogeneous mixture of Quercus rubra, Acer rubrum, Pinus strobus, and Fagus grandifolia. Typically these occur in association with light-requiring, wind-dispersed trees such as Populus tremuloides, Populus grandidentata, Betula papyrifera, Betula populifolia, Fraxinus americana, and Prunus serotina. Minor associates include Picea rubens and Acer saccharum. Understory species tend to reflect predisturbance conditions and include Acer pensylvanicum, Corylus cornuta, Viburnum acerifolium, or Hamamelis virginiana in the shrub layer. Vaccinium angustifolium is a typical low shrub, although it does not form a coherent layer. Pteridium aquilinum is characteristic and may be abundant in the herbaceous layer; other common herbs include Trientalis borealis, Maianthemum canadense, Deschampsia flexuosa, and Aralia nudicaulis. The bryophyte layer is of variable cover and may include Polytrichum commune and Dicranum polysetum. This association is differentiated from similar forests and woodlands by its thin canopy that usually includes early-successional species, particularly Acer rubrum, low abundance of tolerant hardwoods other than red oak, and the lack of a well-developed heath shrub layer (as is typical in oak-pine woodlands). Unlike oak and oak-pine forests to the south, Quercus rubra is the only oak species present in any abundance.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This association was first described from the Northern Appalachian-Acadian ecoregion, where it approaches a matrix landscape pattern in the southern portions of the region while being absent from areas to the north. Similar forests extend southward. Further work in Lower New England suggests that this type may represent an earlier successional version of ~Pinus strobus - Quercus (rubra, velutina) - Fagus grandifolia Forest (CEGL006293)$$, and possibly of other later-successional types, distinguished by the preponderance of Acer rubrum in the canopy.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available