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CEGL005120 Quercus macrocarpa - Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor / Calamagrostis canadensis Wooded Grassland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available


Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Bur Oak - Pin Oak - Swamp White Oak / Bluejoint Open Woodland

Colloquial Name: Lakeplain Wet-Mesic Oak Openings

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This bur oak - mixed oak savanna or openings community occurs on lakeplains of the southern Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. Stands occur on sandy or, less commonly, silty/clayey glacial lakeplains with seasonally high water tables. Soils are mildly alkaline very fine sandy loams or loamy very fine sands, sometimes sands. These soils have moderate water-retaining capacity. Within glacial lakeplains there are two prominent forms of savanna communities. In both types, Quercus spp. dominate the tree canopy layer and grasses and sedges make up the majority of the ground layer. The more mesic to dry-mesic type occurs on droughty beach ridges and is typically dominated by Quercus velutina and Quercus alba. The wet-mesic type described here is found on flat, poorly drained areas. It is dominated by Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus palustris, and Quercus bicolor with some Acer rubrum and a lakeplain wet prairie ground layer component. In Michigan the herbaceous species present may include Andropogon gerardii, Carex spp., Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans. The canopy of this community can be very open.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Type concept is that of a lakeplain oak opening, distinct from the "inland" bur oak openings, ~Quercus macrocarpa - (Quercus alba, Quercus velutina) / Andropogon gerardii Wooded Grassland (CEGL002020)$$ or ~Quercus alba - Quercus macrocarpa / Andropogon gerardii Wooded Grassland (CEGL005121)$$.

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

Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: Within glacial lakeplains there are two prominent forms of savanna communities. In both types, Quercus spp. dominate the tree canopy layer. and grasses and sedges make up the majority of the ground layer. The more mesic to dry-mesic type occurs on droughty beach ridges and is typically dominated by Quercus velutina and Quercus alba. The wet-mesic type described here is found on flat, poorly drained areas. It is dominated by Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus palustris, and Quercus bicolor with some Acer rubrum and a lakeplain wet prairie ground layer component. Herbaceous species include Andropogon gerardii, Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex spp., Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans. The canopy of this community can be very open. In southwestern Ontario, Bakowsky (1988) described the average canopy as 33% cover and average density of trees greater than 6 cm dbh as 92 trees/ha.

Dynamics:  No Data Available

Environmental Description:  This community occurs on sandy or, less commonly, silty/clayey glacial lakeplains with seasonally high water tables. Soils are mildly alkaline (pH 7.4-7.8), very fine sandy loams or loamy very fine sands, rarely sands. These soils have moderate water-retaining capacity and are on flat, poorly drained sites.

Geographic Range: This bur oak - mixed oak savanna or openings community occurs on the lakeplain of the southern Great Lakes, particularly in southeastern Michigan and southwestern Ontario, with a possibly remnant in southeastern Wisconsin.

Nations: CA,US

States/Provinces:  MI, ON, PA?




Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented

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: = Quercus macrocarpa - Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor / Calamagrostis canadensis Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation (Faber-Langendoen 2001)

Concept Author(s): D. Faber-Langendoen (2001)

Author of Description: J. Drake, D. Faber-Langendoen, and D. Ambrose

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 03-03-94

  • Bakowsky, W. 1988. The phytosociology of midwestern savanna in the Carolinian Region of Southern Ontario. M.S. thesis, University of Toronto. 118 pp. plus appendices.
  • 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.
  • ONHIC [Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre]. 2018. Unpublished data. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, Canada.