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CEGL007335 Platanus occidentalis - Liquidambar styraciflua - (Ulmus americana) / (Crataegus viridis) Floodplain Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Sycamore - Sweetgum - (American Elm) / (Green Hawthorn) Floodplain Forest
Colloquial Name: Gulf Coastal Plain Sycamore - Sweetgum Floodplain Forest
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This floodplain forest of the Upper East and West Gulf coastal plains has a canopy dominated by Platanus occidentalis and Liquidambar styraciflua. Examples may be found on stabilized natural levees, point bars and first bottoms of large streams and rivers. Depending upon location and previous disturbance history (including hydrologic regime), a number of other tree species may also be present in lesser amounts. These may include Ulmus americana, Carya illinoinensis, Nyssa biflora, Celtis laevigata, Populus deltoides, Quercus nigra, Salix nigra, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Betula nigra, Acer negundo, and Carya aquatica. Shrubs are sparse to moderately dense in this community with covers ranging from 10-40%. Species may include Crataegus viridis, Ilex decidua, Lindera benzoin, Carpinus caroliniana, and Aesculus pavia var. pavia. Characteristic herbs include Elymus hystrix, Boehmeria cylindrica, Chasmanthium latifolium, and Viola spp. Patches of Arundinaria gigantea can be common in this community.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association was originally defined to cover a very broad geographic range (from western Texas to the Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia) and may need substantial revision. Its range has subsequently become more restricted (currently to the Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain and West Gulf Coastal Plain from Georgia and Alabama west to Texas).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The canopy of stands of this association is dominated by Platanus occidentalis and Liquidambar styraciflua. The canopy cover ranges from 60-100%. Other canopy associates may include Carya illinoinensis, Nyssa biflora, Celtis laevigata, Populus deltoides, Quercus nigra, Salix nigra, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Betula nigra, Acer negundo, and Carya aquatica. Ulmus americana may also be present in some examples and may have been an historically common component of this type. However, Ulmus americana is currently less abundant due to a vascular fungus (Dutch elm disease) that has severely reduced populations of this species (Harlow et al. 1991). Shrubs are sparse to moderately dense in this community with covers ranging from 10-40%. Floodplain communities in general are particularly prone to exotics, likely due to frequent flooding disturbances of the ground cover and the deposition of high-nutrient alluvial material. Lonicera japonica, Microstegium vimineum, and Ligustrum sinense may come to dominate large areas of this forest to the exclusion of native species. More floristic data are available (NatureServe Ecology unpubl. data), but more comprehensive data are needed.
Dynamics: The composition and structure of this community is dependent on the hydrologic regime of the river. Levees on the outside of channel bends may be undercut and eroded away, while those on the inside may be gradually abandoned by the river as new point bar deposition occurs. Point bars stabilized by early successional vegetation serve as new sites on which this forest can establish. This forest often succeeds from Salix nigra and Populus deltoides - Salix nigra early successional communities. The state of this community is variable, ranging from mid-seral to mature examples.
Environmental Description: This forest occurs on stabilized natural levees, point bars and first bottoms of small- to large-sized alluvial streams and rivers in the Gulf Coastal Plain from Texas as far eastward as Alabama and Georgia. Soils are seasonally/temporarily flooded. In much of its range this community is inundated or saturated typically for 1 or 2 months during the growing season with a frequency ranging from 51 to 100 years out of every 100. The inundation persists almost continuously during the winter and early spring (Wharton et al. 1982, Smith 1988c).
Geographic Range: This community ranges across the Gulf Coastal Plain from Georgia to Texas, but is apparently absent from the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain (but possibly in the Red River Plain). It may occur as far north as western Tennessee.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, GA, LA, MS, TN
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.686071
Confidence Level: Low
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.Nb Southeastern North American Flooded & Swamp Forest Division | D062 | 1.B.3.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.3.Nb.4 Swamp Chestnut Oak - Bald-cypress - Pecan Southern Floodplain Forest Macrogroup | M031 | 1.B.3.Nb.4 |
| Group | 1.B.3.Nb.4.a Swamp Chestnut Oak - Laurel Oak - Sweetgum Floodplain Forest Group | G034 | 1.B.3.Nb.4.a |
| Alliance | A3627 Laurel Oak - Sweetgum - Swamp Tupelo Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest Alliance | A3627 | 1.B.3.Nb.4.a |
| Association | CEGL007335 American Sycamore - Sweetgum - (American Elm) / (Green Hawthorn) Floodplain Forest | CEGL007335 | 1.B.3.Nb.4.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < IIA7g. Sycamore - Sweetgum - American Elm Riverfront Forest (Allard 1990)
< Sugarberry-Elm Series (Diamond 1993)
? Sycamore - Pecan - American Elm (25) (USFS 1988)
? Sycamore - Sweetgum - American Elm: 94 (Eyre 1980)
= Sycamore - Sweetgum American Elm Riverfront Forest (Oberholster 1993)
< Sugarberry-Elm Series (Diamond 1993)
? Sycamore - Pecan - American Elm (25) (USFS 1988)
? Sycamore - Sweetgum - American Elm: 94 (Eyre 1980)
= Sycamore - Sweetgum American Elm Riverfront Forest (Oberholster 1993)
- 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.
- Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 pp.
- Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
- GNHP [Georgia Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data. Georgia Natural Heritage Program, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Social Circle.
- Harlow, W. M., E. S. Harrar, F. M. White, and J. W. Hardin. 1991. Textbook of dendrology: Covering the important forest trees of the United States and Canada. 7th edition. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York. 501 pp.
- LNHP [Louisiana Natural Heritage Program]. 2009. Natural communities of Louisiana. Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Baton Rouge. 46 pp. [http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/page_wildlife/6776-Rare%20Natural%20Communities/LA_NAT_COM.pdf]
- Lea, C., B. Waltermire, and C. Nordman. 2013. Vegetation classification and mapping, Vicksburg National Military Park, Mississippi. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/GULN/NRTR--2013/710. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO.
- MSNHP [Mississippi Natural Heritage Program]. 2006. Ecological communities of Mississippi. Museum of Natural Science, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Jackson, MS. 9 pp.
- NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Nordman, C., M. Russo, and L. Smart. 2011. Vegetation types of the Natchez Trace Parkway, based on the U.S. National Vegetation Classification. NatureServe Central Databases (International Ecological Classification Standard: Terrestrial Ecological Classifications). Arlington, VA. Data current as of 11 April 2011. 548 pp.
- Oberholster, C. 1993. Preliminary list of natural communities of Alabama. Unpublished document. Alabama Department Conservation and Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Section, Montgomery, AL. 6 pp.
- Smith, L. M. 1988c. The natural communities of Louisiana. Unpublished document. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Natural Heritage Program, Baton Rouge. 35 pp.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- TNHS [Texas Natural History Survey]. No date. Unpublished data. Texas Natural History Survey, The Nature Conservancy, San Antonio.
- USFS [U.S. Forest Service]. 1988. Silvicultural examination and prescription field book. USDA Forest Service, Southern Region. Atlanta, GA. 35 pp.
- Wharton, C. H., W. M. Kitchens, E. C. Pendleton, and T. W. Sipe. 1982. The ecology of bottomland hardwood swamps of the Southeast: A community profile. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services. FWS/OBS-81/37. Washington, DC.