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CEGL003851 Pinus serotina / Arundinaria tecta Wooded Wet Shrubland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Pond Pine / Switch Cane Wooded Wet Shrubland

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community occurs on shallow organic soils (10-100 cm deep), in areas which burn every 3-12 years. Typically it is found around the periphery of deep peat deposits where peat feathers out onto mineral soil, in peat-filled depressions and sloughs in pine barrens, or on upland flats where drainage is poor enough to permit accumulation of an organic layer deep enough to support the cane rhizome mat. It is likely that the soil is saturated throughout most of the winter and spring, and probably dries out in the summer and fall. Organic matter depth, fire frequency, and nutrient availability are the primary factors controlling vegetation structure and composition in this community. Occurrences are known from the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of South Carolina and North Carolina. This community is characterized by dense stands of Arundinaria tecta occasionally reaching 5 m in height, with scattered to fairly dense Pinus serotina (sometimes with some Nyssa biflora or Liriodendron tulipifera). Physiognomy and structure vary with fire-return interval. In areas that burn every 3-5 years, the appearance of the community will be that of nearly pure Arundinaria tecta, perhaps with scattered Pinus serotina. Cover of pocosin shrubs (e.g., Ilex glabra, Ilex coriacea, Lyonia lucida, Lyonia ligustrina var. foliosiflora, Cyrilla racemiflora, Zenobia pulverulenta, Magnolia virginiana, Aronia arbutifolia) and Acer rubrum var. trilobum increases with lack of fire, and with fire suppression greater than 15 years, these species will overtake the cane.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This community is thought to have been common in presettlement times, existing as large, open tracts. Most of the presettlement acreage has succeeded to pocosin vegetation because of fire exclusion or has been drained and cleared for agriculture. This community, or one similar to it, may be present in southern Georgia and in Florida (S. Orzell pers. comm.). See ~Pinus serotina / Arundinaria tecta Swamp Woodland (CEGL004433)$$ for modern variant.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available

Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This community is characterized by dense stands of Arundinaria tecta (= Arundinaria gigantea ssp. tecta) occasionally reaching 5 m in height, with scattered to fairly dense Pinus serotina (sometimes with some Nyssa biflora or Liriodendron tulipifera). Physiognomy and structure vary with fire-return interval. In areas that burn every 3-5 years, the appearance of the community will be that of nearly pure Arundinaria tecta, perhaps with scattered Pinus serotina. Cover of pocosin shrubs (e.g., Ilex glabra, Ilex coriacea, Lyonia lucida, Lyonia ligustrina var. foliosiflora, Cyrilla racemiflora, Zenobia pulverulenta, Magnolia virginiana, Aronia arbutifolia) and Acer rubrum var. trilobum increases with lack of fire, and with fire suppression greater than 15 years, these species will overtake the cane.

Dynamics:  Organic matter depth, fire frequency, and nutrient availability are the primary factors controlling vegetation structure and composition in this community. Cover of pocosin shrubs (e.g., Ilex glabra, Ilex coriacea, Lyonia lucida, Lyonia ligustrina var. foliosiflora, Cyrilla racemiflora, Zenobia pulverulenta, Magnolia virginiana, Aronia arbutifolia), and Acer rubrum var. trilobum increases with lack of fire, and with fire suppression greater than 15 years, these species will overtake the cane. It is likely that the soil where this community occurs is saturated throughout most of the winter and spring, and probably dries out in the summer and fall.

Environmental Description:  This community occurs on shallow organic soils (10-100 cm deep), in areas which burn every 3-12 years. Typically it is found around the periphery of deep peat deposits where peat feathers out onto mineral soil, in peat-filled depressions and sloughs in pine barrens, or on upland flats where drainage is poor enough to permit accumulation of an organic layer deep enough to support the cane rhizome mat. It is likely that the soil is saturated throughout most of the winter and spring, and probably dries out in the summer and fall.

Geographic Range: Occurrences of this community are known from the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of South Carolina and North Carolina. It is extirpated from Virginia.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  NC, SC




Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available

Grank: G1

Greasons: No Data Available


Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available

Synonomy: < IIB2c. Peatland Canebrake (Allard 1990)

Concept Author(s): D.J. Allard

Author of Description: D.J. Allard

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-02-13

  • Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.
  • Frost, C. C. 1989. History and status of remnant pocosin, canebrake and white cedar wetlands in Virginia. Unpublished report. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
  • Frost, C. C. No date. Presettlement vegetation of the Albemarle-Pamlico region, North Carolina. Draft of Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  • Glitzenstein, J. S., and D. R. Streng. 2004. Evaluating the NatureServe preliminary plant community classification for Francis Marion National Forest. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. Plus appendices and data.
  • Heineke, T. E. 1987. The flora and plant communities of the middle Mississippi River Valley. Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. 653 pp.
  • Hughes, R. H. 1966. Fire ecology of canebrakes. Proceedings of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 5:149-158.
  • Meanley, B. 1972. Swamps, river bottoms and canebrakes. Barre Publishing, Barre, MA. 142 pp.
  • Nelson, J. B. 1986. The natural communities of South Carolina: Initial classification and description. South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Columbia, SC. 55 pp.
  • Orzell, S. L. Personal communication. Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, Nongame Wildlife Program, Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee.
  • Platt, S. G., and C. G. Brantley. 1997. Canebrakes: An ecological and historical perspective. Castanea 62:8-21.
  • Schafale, M. P. 2012. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina, 4th Approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.
  • Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.