Print Report
CEGL005192 Tortella tortuosa - Cladonia pocillum - Placynthium spp. Sparse Vegetation
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Twisted Moss - Cup Lichen - Black-thread Lichen species Sparse Vegetation
Colloquial Name: Alvar Nonvascular Pavement
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: Alvar nonvascular pavement is a rock outcrop community that occurs throughout the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, from central and southern Ontario to northern parts of Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Stands occur on flat limestone and dolostone outcrops (pavements). Soils of alvar nonvascular pavement are either lacking or very shallow (usually less than 10 cm deep). This community typically has a soil moisture regime characterized by severe summer drought, as well as high summer temperatures. Alvar nonvascular pavements usually occur in a patchy landscape mosaic with other alvar communities, including annual alvar pavement-grassland, creeping juniper - shrubby-cinquefoil alvar pavement, little bluestem alvar grassland, tufted hairgrass wet alvar grassland, and juniper alvar shrubland. Alvar nonvascular pavement consists of exposed, flat limestone or dolostone pavement that is sparsely vegetated with a mosaic of mossy patches and exposed bedrock that is covered with crustose and foliose lichens. In the mossy patches, characteristic mosses are Tortella tortuosa, other Tortella spp., and Tortula ruralis; a characteristic lichen is Cladonia pocillum. On exposed pavement patches, characteristic lichens are Placynthium nigrum and Dermatocarpon cf. miniatum. Very small herbs (under 15 cm [6 inches] tall), grow in the mossy patches, including Saxifraga virginiensis, Penstemon hirsutus, Potentilla norvegica, Trichostema brachiatum, Fragaria virginiana, Minuartia michauxii var. michauxii, and Houstonia longifolia. Some taller herbs and low shrubs grow primarily in slightly deeper soils of rock crevices that crisscross the pavement, including Solidago nemoralis, Symphoricarpos albus, Vitis riparia, Aquilegia canadensis, and Hieracium piloselloides. There is usually less than 15% cover of herbs. Usually a few trees and shrubs are rooted in deep crevices of the pavement; characteristic trees and shrubs that occur sparsely include Thuja occidentalis, Juniperus communis, Betula papyrifera, Juniperus virginiana, Juglans cinerea, and Picea glauca. There is less than 10% total cover of trees, and less than 10% total cover of shrubs. There is a lot of exposed bedrock, and much of it is covered with lichens and mosses (average cover of lichens and mosses is about 55%).
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Alvar nonvascular pavements usually occur in a patchy landscape mosaic with other alvar communities, including Annual Alvar Pavement Grassland, ~Sporobolus neglectus - Sporobolus vaginiflorus - Trichostema brachiatum - Panicum philadelphicum - (Poa compressa) Alvar Grassland (CEGL005235)$$; Creeping Juniper - Shrubby-cinquefoil Alvar Pavement, ~Juniperus horizontalis - Dasiphora fruticosa / Schizachyrium scoparium - Carex richardsonii Dwarf-shrubland (CEGL005236)$$; Little Bluestem Alvar Grassland, ~Sporobolus heterolepis - Schizachyrium scoparium - (Carex scirpoidea) / (Juniperus horizontalis) Grassland (CEGL005234)$$; Tufted Hairgrass Wet Alvar Grassland, ~Deschampsia cespitosa - (Sporobolus heterolepis, Schizachyrium scoparium) - Carex crawei - Packera paupercula Grassland (CEGL005110)$$; and Juniper Alvar Shrubland, ~Juniperus communis - (Juniperus virginiana) - Rhus aromatica - Viburnum rafinesqueanum / Oligoneuron album Shrubland (CEGL005212)$$.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Alvar nonvascular pavement consists of exposed, flat limestone or dolostone pavement that is sparsely vegetated with a mosaic of mossy patches and exposed bedrock that is covered with crustose and foliose lichens. In the mossy patches, characteristic mosses are Tortella tortuosa, other Tortella spp., and Tortula ruralis; a characteristic lichen is Cladonia pocillum. On exposed pavement patches, characteristic lichens are Placynthium nigrum and Dermatocarpon cf. miniatum. Very small herbs (under 15 cm [6 inches] tall) grow in the mossy patches, including Saxifraga virginiensis, Penstemon hirsutus, Potentilla norvegica, Trichostema brachiatum, Fragaria virginiana, Minuartia michauxii var. michauxii, and Houstonia longifolia. Some taller herbs and low shrubs grow primarily in slightly deeper soils of rock crevices that crisscross the pavement, including Solidago nemoralis, Symphoricarpos albus, Vitis riparia, Aquilegia canadensis, and Hieracium piloselloides. There is usually less than 15% cover of herbs. Usually a few trees and shrubs are rooted in deep crevices of the pavement; characteristic trees and shrubs that occur sparsely include Thuja occidentalis, Juniperus communis, Betula papyrifera, Juniperus virginiana, Juglans cinerea, and Picea glauca. There is less than 10% total cover of trees, and less than 10% total cover of shrubs. There is a lot of exposed bedrock, and much of it is covered with lichens and mosses (average cover of lichens and mosses is about 55%) (Reschke et al. 1998).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Stands occur on flat limestone and dolostone outcrops (pavements). Soils of alvar nonvascular pavement are either lacking or very shallow (usually less than 10 cm deep). This community typically has a soil moisture regime characterized by severe summer drought, as well as high summer temperatures (Reschke et al. 1998).
Geographic Range: Alvar nonvascular pavement is a rock outcrop community that occurs throughout the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, from central and southern Ontario to northern parts of Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Stands occur in Ontario, near Lake Huron on the southern shore of Manitoulin Island and the western shore of the Bruce Peninsula, as well as in other parts of southern Ontario, northern Michigan, northern Ohio, and northern New York.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: MI, NY, OH, ON
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687152
Confidence Level: High
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.2 Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation | F012 | 2.B.2 |
| Division | 2.B.2.Nc Eastern North American Grassland & Shrubland Division | D024 | 2.B.2.Nc |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.2.Nc.5 Shrubby-cinquefoil - Bristleleaf Sedge Calcareous Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup | M507 | 2.B.2.Nc.5 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nc.5.a Little Bluestem - Prairie Dropseed - Common Juniper Alvar Grassland & Shrubland Group | G061 | 2.B.2.Nc.5.a |
| Alliance | A3104 Prairie Dropseed - Tufted Hairgrass / Shrubby-cinquefoil Alvar Grassland Alliance | A3104 | 2.B.2.Nc.5.a |
| Association | CEGL005192 Twisted Moss - Cup Lichen - Black-thread Lichen species Sparse Vegetation | CEGL005192 | 2.B.2.Nc.5.a |
Concept Lineage: combined
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Tortella tortuosa - Cladonia pocillum - Placynthium spp. Sparse Vegetation (Reschke et al. 1998)
= Tortella tortuosa - Cladonia pocillum - Placynthium spp. Sparse Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
= Tortella tortuosa - Cladonia pocillum - Placynthium spp. Sparse Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)
- Edinger, G. J., D. J. Evans, S. Gebauer, T. G. Howard, D. M. Hunt, and A. M. Olivero, editors. 2014a. Ecological communities of New York state. Second edition. A revised and expanded edition of Carol Reschke''s ecological communities of New York state. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., editor. 2001. Plant communities of the Midwest: Classification in an ecological context. Association for Biodiversity Information, Arlington, VA. 61 pp. plus appendix (705 pp.).
- Kost, M. A., D. A. Albert, J. G. Cohen, B. S. Slaughter, R. K. Schillo, C. R. Weber, and K. A. Chapman. 2007. Natural communities of Michigan: Classification and description. Report No. 2007-21, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing. 314 pp. [http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/reports/2007-21_Natural_Communites_of_Michigan_Classification_and_Description.pdf]
- Lee, H., W. Bakowsky, J. Riley, J. Bowles, M. Puddister, P. Uhlig, and S. McMurray. 1998. Ecological land classification for southern Ontario: First approximation and its application. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Southcentral Science Section, Science Development and Transfer Branch. SCSS Field Guide FG-02.
- Midwestern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Minneapolis, MN.
- ONHD [Ohio Natural Heritage Database]. No date. Vegetation classification of Ohio and unpublished data. Ohio Natural Heritage Database, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Columbus.
- ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.
- Reschke, C., R. Reid, J. Jones, T. Feeney, and H. Potter, on behalf of the Alvar Working Group. 1998. Conserving Great Lakes Alvars. Final Technical Report of the International Alvar Conservation Initiative. The Nature Conservancy, Great Lakes Program, Chicago, IL. 119 pp. plus 4 appendices.