Print Report

CEGL002432 Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor - (Liquidambar styraciflua) Swamp Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Pin Oak - Swamp White Oak - (Sweetgum) Swamp Forest

Colloquial Name: Pin Oak Mixed Hardwood Depression Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This pin oak - swamp white oak forest community type is found in the central United States. Stands occur on wet, poorly drained depressions and contain a closed to partially open canopy dominated by Quercus palustris and Acer rubrum. Oaks should comprise at least 25% of the dominance in a stand. Other typical canopy associates may dominate, including Liquidambar styraciflua, Nyssa sylvatica, and Quercus bicolor. Other wetland hardwood species can occur, including Acer saccharinum, Betula nigra, Quercus macrocarpa, and Quercus rubra. Shrub and vine species are variable and may include Cornus spp., Lindera benzoin, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, and Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis. Herbaceous species also vary widely. Herbaceous species noted from a site in the Western Allegheny Plateau include Cinna arundinacea (dominant), with other associates including Carex blanda, Carex laxiculmis, Carex rosea, Elymus riparius, Elymus virginicus, Cardamine bulbosa, Cardamine pensylvanica, Claytonia virginica, Oxalis violacea, and Podophyllum peltatum. Herbs with highest constancy and cover in 15 West Virginia plots include Boehmeria cylindrica, Lysimachia nummularia, Galium tinctorium, Lycopus virginicus, Glyceria striata, Cinna arundinacea, Carex squarrosa, and Carex intumescens.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Type is similar to ~Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor - Nyssa sylvatica - Acer rubrum Sand Wet Flatwoods Forest (CEGL002100)$$; it should also be compared with ~Quercus bicolor / Vaccinium corymbosum / Carex stipata Wet Forest (CEGL006241)$$. Related Arkansas vegetation is found in ~Quercus palustris Pond Forest (CEGL007809)$$. This type is broadly defined to include stands with Quercus palustris, Quercus bicolor, and Acer rubrum as dominants, and Liquidambar styraciflua as a diagnostic species. Perhaps Quercus palustris and Quercus bicolor should together represent between 25-50% of the dominance (cover, basal area). However, there are stands in central Illinois and Missouri beyond the range of Liquidambar styraciflua that have been placed, at least temporarily, in this type. Stands in the Western Allegheny Plateau ecoregion may differ from stands further west. Stands in central Indiana and northwest Ohio (lakeplain) with Fagus grandifolia and Quercus palustris are placed in ~Fagus grandifolia - Acer saccharum - Quercus bicolor - Acer rubrum Flatwoods Forest (CEGL005173)$$ or without beech, with Quercus bicolor, and till or clayey lacustrine deposits into ~Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor - Acer rubrum Flatwoods Forest (CEGL005037)$$. This community is found in extreme southwest Ohio on the Illinoisan till plain. In Indiana, which also contains the Illinoisan till plain, the type occurs more widely. Bryant (1978) reports forests on "flat, poorly drained land" in an abandoned Pliocene channel of the Kentucky River in the Inner Bluegrass Subsection (222Fa). This vegetation seems to pertain to this type, and is reported to be dominated by Quercus palustris and Acer rubrum, with Fagus grandifolia, Liquidambar styraciflua, Quercus alba, Quercus bicolor, Quercus velutina, Nyssa sylvatica, and Fraxinus americana. According to J. Campbell (pers. comm. 2000), Bryant''s (1978) type, which occurs in the Bluegrass region, belongs here. It is rarer in the Bluegrass Basin than eastward in the adjacent Knobs Transition Region.

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

Floristics: Stands contain a closed to partially open canopy dominated by Quercus palustris and Acer rubrum. Oaks should comprise at least 25% of the dominance in a stand. Other typical canopy associates may dominate, including Liquidambar styraciflua, Nyssa sylvatica, and Quercus bicolor. Other wetland hardwood species can occur, including Acer saccharinum, Betula nigra, Quercus macrocarpa, and Quercus rubra. Shrub and vine species are variable and may include Cornus spp., Lindera benzoin, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, and Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis (= Sambucus canadensis). Herbaceous species also vary widely [see Anderson (1996) maple-ash-oak type for a list of species]. Herbs with highest constancy and cover in 15 West Virginia plots include Boehmeria cylindrica, Lysimachia nummularia, Galium tinctorium, Lycopus virginicus, Glyceria striata, Cinna arundinacea, Carex squarrosa, and Carex intumescens. Some herbs reported from this or related vegetation in the bluegrass basin of Kentucky by Bryant (1978) include Lycopus virginicus, Alisma subcordatum, Ludwigia alternifolia, Penthorum sedoides, Polygala sanguinea, Polygala verticillata, Polygonum sagittatum, Conoclinium coelestinum (= Eupatorium coelestinum), Eupatorium perfoliatum, Mimulus ringens, Liparis liliifolia, Platanthera peramoena, Saururus cernuus, Ophioglossum engelmannii, Carex squarrosa, Scirpus atrovirens, Juncus effusus, Eleocharis spp., and Luzula sp. This more acidic swamp vegetation would be unusual in the Central Bluegrass, but occurs more frequently in the Knobs Transition Region (Meijer et al. 1981).

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This community is found on flat, poorly drained areas (or in wet, poorly drained depressions). Many stands are seasonally wet, with a seasonally saturated hydrology. Soils are often fine-grained (silts and clays) of lacustrine origin. It is primarily, but not exclusively, found in unglaciated terrain. Habitat in Kentucky includes terraces which are not frequently flooded, or in upland swales in the Karst Plain.
Geographic Range: This pin oak - swamp white oak forest is found in the central United States, ranging from eastern Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee east in a band to southwestern Ohio and possibly to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  IA, IL, IN, KY, MO, OH, PA?, TN?, WV


Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3G4

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.2 Pin Oak - Green Ash - Blackgum Swamp Forest Macrogroup M503 1.B.3.Na.2
Group 1.B.3.Na.2.h <i>Quercus bicolor - Fagus grandifolia - Acer rubrum</i> Swamp Forest Group G918 1.B.3.Na.2.h
Alliance A4474 <i>Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor</i> Central Interior Swamp Forest Alliance A4474 1.B.3.Na.2.h
Association CEGL002432 Pin Oak - Swamp White Oak - (Sweetgum) Swamp Forest CEGL002432 1.B.3.Na.2.h
Concept Lineage: merged

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor - (Liquidambar styraciflua) / Toxicodendron radicans Forested Swamp [Ohio River Oak Swamp] (Vanderhorst 2016b)
= Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor - (Liquidambar styraciflua) Mixed Hardwood Forest (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
= CT IX Quercus palustrus (sic), Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, Liquidambar styraciflua (Badger et al. 1997)
< Maple-Ash-Oak Swamps (Anderson 1996) [Anderson (1996) appears to lump maple-ash and maple-ash-oak together. Here, they are separated, as done in Anderson (1982) with maple-ash having less than 25% oaks.]
? Pin Oak - Red Maple - Elm - Sweet Gum Associes (Braun 1936)
Concept Author(s): D. Faber-Langendoen (2001)

Author of Description: D. Faber-Langendoen and L.A. Sneddon

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 12-20-18
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