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CEGL005098 Ammophila breviligulata - (Schizachyrium scoparium) Grassland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Beachgrass - (Little Bluestem) Grassland
Colloquial Name: Great Lakes Beachgrass Dune
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This beachgrass dune community occurs along the Great Lakes shores region of the United States and Canada on stabilized foredunes. Component plant communities vary from sparsely vegetated, active dunes to communities dominated by grasses, shrubs, and trees, depending on the degree of sand deposition, sand erosion, and distance from the lake. Depositional areas, where Great Lakes beachgrass foredunes are found, are dominated by Ammophila breviligulata (or in the eastern part of the range Ammophila champlainensis); erosional areas, such as slacks in blowouts and dune fields, by Calamovilfa longifolia; and stabilized areas by Schizachyrium scoparium. In dune fields and on the most stable dune ridges, especially around northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, low evergreen shrubs (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Juniperus communis, Juniperus horizontalis) occupy dune crests and also the ground layer in the savanna edge of dunes; elsewhere, deciduous shrubs are dominant, including Prunus pumila, Salix cordata and Salix myricoides. These two shrubby phases are separated from this open grassland type, but could be treated as phases of this type.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Perhaps 25-35% of Great Lakes dune species grow in maritime dunes (e.g., Cakile edentula, Ammophila breviligulata, Hudsonia tomentosa, Lathyrus japonicus var. maritimus), but the many western species (such as Schizachyrium scoparium) set Great Lakes dunes apart (as do its endemic plants, such as Cirsium pitcheri). In Vermont (Lake Champlain) and New York (eastern Lake Ontario) the dunes apparently contain Ammophila champlainensis instead of Ammophila breviligulata. This type is linked in complexes with ~Juniperus horizontalis - Arctostaphylos uva-ursi - Juniperus communis Dune Dwarf-shrubland (CEGL005064)$$ and ~Prunus pumila - (Ptelea trifoliata) Dune Shrubland (CEGL005075)$$, which could be treated together as a single association, or treated as a complex open dune type. The sparsely vegetated parts of the dune are included in this association (old CEGL005161).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Component plant communities vary from sparsely vegetated, active dunes to communities dominated by grasses, shrubs, and trees, depending on the degree of sand deposition, sand erosion, and distance from the lake. Depositional areas, where Great Lakes beachgrass foredunes are found, are dominated by Ammophila breviligulata (or in the eastern part of the range Ammophila champlainensis); erosional areas, such as slacks in blowouts and dune fields, by Calamovilfa longifolia; and stabilized areas by Schizachyrium scoparium. In dune fields and on the most stable dune ridges, especially around northern Lake Michigan and Huron, low evergreen shrubs (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Juniperus communis, Juniperus horizontalis) occupy dune crests and also the ground layer in the savanna edge of dunes; elsewhere, deciduous shrubs are dominant, including Prunus pumila, Salix cordata and Salix myricoides (= Salix glaucophylloides). These two shrubby phases are separated from this open grassland type, but could be treated as phases of this type.
Dynamics: Dynamic tension exists at the forest edge where trees invade dune fields, often creating wind-stressed savanna, typically oak-pine in the south, pine-conifer in the north. When lake levels go down and beach and dune area increases lakeward, wind speed and sand abrasion decrease in the savanna edge, permitting forest development.
Environmental Description: Environmental processes include sand deposition, sand erosion, and stabilization. They are affected by the distance from the lake. Three sets of environmental habitats can be identified: depositional areas, erosional areas such as slacks in blowouts, and stabilized dune fields.
Geographic Range: This community occurs along the Great Lakes shores of the United States and Canada on stabilized foredunes, ranging from Wisconsin to Ontario and New York in the Great Lakes, and in isolated occurrences along the shores of Lake Champlain, Vermont.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: IL, IN, MI, MN, NY, ON, VT, WI
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688169
Confidence Level: High
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3G5
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.4 Temperate to Polar Scrub & Herb Coastal Vegetation Formation | F005 | 2.B.4 |
| Division | 2.B.4.Na Eastern North American Coastal Scrub & Herb Vegetation Division | D026 | 2.B.4.Na |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.4.Na.2 American Beachgrass - Sea-oats - Seaside Goldenrod Dune & Grassland Macrogroup | M057 | 2.B.4.Na.2 |
| Group | 2.B.4.Na.2.d Creeping Juniper - American Beachgrass Coastal Dune & Grassland Group | G089 | 2.B.4.Na.2.d |
| Alliance | A3719 American Beachgrass - Juniper species Great Lakes Dune Grassland Alliance | A3719 | 2.B.4.Na.2.d |
| Association | CEGL005098 American Beachgrass - (Little Bluestem) Grassland | CEGL005098 | 2.B.4.Na.2.d |
Concept Lineage: merged
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Ammophila breviligulata - (Schizachyrium scoparium) Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001) [Lake Dune Beachgrass Subtype]
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