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CEGL003906 Morella (cerifera, pensylvanica) - Vaccinium corymbosum Wet Shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: (Wax-myrtle, Northern Bayberry) - Highbush Blueberry Wet Shrubland
Colloquial Name: Barrier Island Shrub Bog
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This shrub bog community of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey occurs in interdunal depressions of barrier island dunes. This community is a relatively open, short-statured shrub wetland with a thin veneer of peat. The two most characteristic shrubs are Morella cerifera and Vaccinium corymbosum; Morella pensylvanica replaces Morella cerifera in the northern part of the range. Rosa palustris and Ilex glabra also frequently occur. Panicum virgatum, Andropogon glomeratus, and other grasses are common. Other herbs include Juncus canadensis, Juncus scirpoides, Juncus dichotomus, Pluchea foetida, Triadenum virginicum, Drosera intermedia, Lycopodiella appressa, Xyris torta, and Osmunda regalis.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: No Data Available
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This community is a relatively open, short-statured shrub wetland with Morella cerifera (= Myrica cerifera) and Vaccinium corymbosum, Morella pensylvanica replaces Morella cerifera in the northern part of the range. Rosa palustris and Ilex glabra also frequently occur. Panicum virgatum, Andropogon glomeratus, and other grasses are common. Other herbs include Juncus canadensis, Juncus scirpoides, Juncus dichotomus, Pluchea foetida, Triadenum virginicum, Drosera intermedia, Lycopodiella appressa, Xyris torta, and Osmunda regalis.
Dynamics: Freshwater interdunal swale wetlands occur in large dune systems that develop freshwater aquifers. Interdunal swale wetlands develop where the freshwater lens intersects the dune surface. The water table is a balance between input from precipitation and output from evapotranspiration or from drainage outlets. Perpetual drawdown tends to invoke successional shifts in vegetation from open water with or without submerged or floating aquatic plants, to emergent herbaceous vegetation to a series of shrubland associations as the duration of soil saturation decreases. Shrub species can invade as peat and or sediments accumulate.
Environmental Description: This community occurs in interdunal depressions of barrier island dunes with a thin veneer of peat.
Geographic Range: This shrub bog community occurs in Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: DE, MD, NJ
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687669
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2G4
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass | S44 | 2.C |
| Formation | 2.C.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
| Division | 2.C.4.Ne Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D322 | 2.C.4.Ne |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Ne.2 Beaksedge species - Spikerush species - Panicgrass species Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Prairie & Marsh Macrogroup | M067 | 2.C.4.Ne.2 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f Northern & Mid-Atlantic Coastal Wetland Group | G752 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
| Alliance | A3649 <i>Morella cerifera - Persea palustris - Salix caroliniana</i> Maritime Scrub Swamp Alliance | A3649 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
| Association | CEGL003906 (Wax-myrtle, Northern Bayberry) - Highbush Blueberry Wet Shrubland | CEGL003906 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Mesic shrub thicket (Martin 1959b) [New Jersey.]
< Mesic shrub zone (Higgins et al. 1971) [Assateague Island.]
? Scrub-shrub/mixed herbaceous interdunal wetland association (McAvoy and Clancy 1994)
= Shrub bog (Hill 1986) [Assateague Island.]
< Mesic shrub zone (Higgins et al. 1971) [Assateague Island.]
? Scrub-shrub/mixed herbaceous interdunal wetland association (McAvoy and Clancy 1994)
= Shrub bog (Hill 1986) [Assateague Island.]
- Breden, T. F., Y. R. Alger, K. S. Walz, and A. G. Windisch. 2001. Classification of vegetation communities of New Jersey: Second iteration. Association for Biodiversity Information and New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton.
- Brock, J. C., C. W. Wright, M. Patterson, A. Naeghandi, and L. J. Travers. 2007. EAARL bare earth topography - Assateague Island National Seashore. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2007-1176. [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1176/start.html]
- Clancy, K. 1993b. A preliminary classification of the natural communities of Delaware. Unpublished draft. Delaware Natural Heritage Inventory, Division of Parks and Recreation, Dover. 30 pp.
- Coxe, R. 2009. Guide to Delaware vegetation communities. Spring 2009 edition. State of Delaware, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Smyrna.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
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- Harrison, J. W., compiler. 2004. Classification of vegetation communities of Maryland: First iteration. A subset of the International Classification of Ecological Communities: Terrestrial Vegetation of the United States, NatureServe. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 243 pp.
- Higgins, E. A. T., R. D. Rappleye, and R. G. Brown. 1971. The flora and ecology of Assateague Island. University of Maryland Experiment Station Bulletin A-172. 70 pp.
- Hill, S. R. 1986. An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of Assateague Island (Maryland and Virginia). Castanea 5:265-305.
- Martin, W. E. 1959b. The vegetation of Island Beach State Park, New Jersey. Ecological Monographs 29:1-46.
- McAvoy, W., and K. Clancy. 1994. Community classification and mapping criteria for Category I interdunal swales and coastal plain pond wetlands in Delaware. Final Report submitted to the Division of Water Resources in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. 47 pp.
- Sneddon, L., J. Menke, A. Berdine, E. Largay, and S. Gawler. 2017. Vegetation classification and mapping of Assateague Island National Seashore. Natural Resource Report NPS/ASIS/NRR--2017/1422. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 512 pp.
- TNC [The Nature Conservancy]. 1995c. NBS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program: Vegetation classification of Assateague Island National Seashore. Unpublished report. The Nature Conservancy, Eastern Regional Office, Boston, MA.