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CEGL007474 Nyssa biflora - Magnolia virginiana - Quercus laurifolia / Cyrilla racemiflora - Rhododendron oblongifolium Swamp Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Swamp Tupelo - Sweetbay - Laurel Oak / Swamp Titi - Texas Azalea Swamp Forest
Colloquial Name: West Gulf Coastal Plain Forested Seep (Southern Type)
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This broad-leaved, mixed evergreen-deciduous forest represents one of two described phases of "baygalls" in the West Gulf Coastal Plain, this type being the more southern-ranging type. The canopy is typically strongly dominated by Nyssa sylvatica and/or Nyssa biflora, Magnolia virginiana, and Quercus laurifolia. The herb stratum is typically dominated by the ferns Woodwardia areolata, Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Osmunda cinnamomea, Woodwardia virginica, and Onoclea sensibilis. This community is saturated for most of the year with much of the moisture originating as seepage flow from adjacent sandy uplands.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This type is the main upland bayhead swamp or baygall type of central and western Louisiana and eastern Texas.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: The canopy is typically strongly dominated by Nyssa sylvatica and/or Nyssa biflora, Magnolia virginiana, and Quercus laurifolia. The canopy may also contain other species, such as Acer rubrum, Magnolia grandiflora, Ilex opaca var. opaca, Pinus taeda, Taxodium distichum, and Liquidambar styraciflua, and sometimes Quercus michauxii. Persea palustris, Persea borbonia, Acer rubrum, Ilex opaca var. opaca, and other canopy species form the subcanopy. The diverse, relatively dense, and primarily evergreen tall-shrub stratum may be dominated by Cyrilla racemiflora and Ilex coriacea but often includes Alnus serrulata, Aronia arbutifolia, Chionanthus virginicus, Itea virginica, Morella cerifera (= Myrica cerifera var. cerifera), Morella caroliniensis (= Myrica heterophylla), Persea palustris, Rhododendron canescens, Rhododendron oblongifolium, Styrax americanus, Viburnum nudum var. nudum, Viburnum dentatum, and sometimes Carpinus caroliniana, Ditrysinia fruticosa (= Sebastiania fruticosa), and Vaccinium virgatum. Woody vines, especially Smilax laurifolia and Decumaria barbara, can be common. The herb stratum is typically dominated by the ferns Woodwardia areolata, Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Osmunda cinnamomea, Woodwardia virginica, and Onoclea sensibilis; other components include Apteria aphylla, Athyrium filix-femina ssp. asplenioides, Chasmanthium laxum, Carex leptalea, Carex atlantica, Carex debilis, Carex lonchocarpa (= Carex folliculata var. australis), Eleocharis tortilis, Platanthera clavellata, Platanthera ciliaris, Platanthera cristata, Leersia virginica, Lycopus rubellus, Triadenum walteri (= Hypericum walteri), Boehmeria cylindrica, and Saururus cernuus. Woodwardia areolata and Eleocharis microcarpa are common and important enough to be used as nominals. Mayaca fluviatilis (= Mayaca aubletii), Burmannia biflora, and Apteria aphylla are fairly rare in eastern Texas, all of which can occur in this association. Bartonia texana may also be present. The exotics Lonicera japonica and Ligustrum sinense frequently invade disturbed examples of this community. Microstegium vimineum may become a problem in the future as the range of this Asiatic exotic expands.
Dynamics: No evidence of fire was observed in the example sampled by Martin and Smith (1991). Due to its sheltered topographic position along stream headwaters and moist conditions, streamhead occurrences of this community likely burned very infrequently. Occurrences in flatwoods, however, may have burned more frequently, typically during droughts. In addition, examples occurring in a matrix of frequently burned Pinus palustris communities may be influenced by the pulse of post-fire nutrients occurring in runoff from uplands (Schafale and Weakley 1990). This forest does not appear to be a disturbance-dependent community but specific successional trajectories are not currently known.
Environmental Description: This seasonally flooded wetland forest occurs on deep, very acidic silt loams, fine sandy loam, and loamy fine sand soils with high organic content. Soils are typically mapped as Corrigan (Typic Albaqualf), Melhomes (Humaqueptic Psammaquent), and possibly Osier (Typic Psammaquent). This community is known from the following intermediate and high Pleistocene Terraces and Tertiary uplands: Catahoula (Oligocene), Sparta, Fleming (Miocene) and possibly the Vicksburg (Oligocene) formations. It occurs primarily on floodplain flats and along small blackwater streams of low velocity. Nixon et al. (1983a) measured stream depths of 0.3-0.6 m and widths of less than 1 m at the time of their study. The fluctuating periods of inundation result in a wider stream channel (i.e., section that floods more often than 2 years out of every 3) that is often saturated, although sections of it are generally not inundated. This community also occurs downstream in flatwoods associated with drainages (Groat 1990, Soil Conservation Service 1990, Martin and Smith 1991, Smith 1996a).
Geographic Range: This community occurs in the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Louisiana and eastern Texas.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: LA, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688892
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3?
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.3 Sweetbay - Swamp Bay - Pond Pine Swamp Forest Macrogroup | M032 | 1.B.3.Nb.3 |
| Group | 1.B.3.Nb.3.a Sweetbay - Loblolly-bay - Pond Pine Swamp Forest Group | G037 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.a |
| Alliance | A4685 <i>Magnolia virginiana - Nyssa biflora - Quercus laurifolia</i> West Gulf Swamp Forest Alliance | A4685 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.a |
| Association | CEGL007474 Swamp Tupelo - Sweetbay - Laurel Oak / Swamp Titi - Texas Azalea Swamp Forest | CEGL007474 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Baygall community (Matos and Rudolph 1985)
< IIA2a. Bay Forest (Allard 1990)
= Mill Creek Bayhead (Martin and Smith 1991)
= Semi-Evergreen Broadleaf Acid Seep Forest (Bridges and Orzell 1989a)
? Streamside Vegetation of the Big Thicket (Wilkinson 1982)
? Sweet Bay - Swamp Tupelo - Red Maple (68) (USFS 1988)
< Sweetbay - Swamp Tupelo - Redbay: 104 (Eyre 1980)
< Sweetbay - Swamp Tupelo / Osmunda Loamy Wet Forested Seeps (Turner et al. 1999)
= Upper Prairie Creek/Upper Wet community (Nixon et al. 1983a)
? Wet creek bottom vegetation (Nixon and Ward 1988)
? Wetland Baygall Shrub Thicket (Marks and Harcombe 1981)
< IIA2a. Bay Forest (Allard 1990)
= Mill Creek Bayhead (Martin and Smith 1991)
= Semi-Evergreen Broadleaf Acid Seep Forest (Bridges and Orzell 1989a)
? Streamside Vegetation of the Big Thicket (Wilkinson 1982)
? Sweet Bay - Swamp Tupelo - Red Maple (68) (USFS 1988)
< Sweetbay - Swamp Tupelo - Redbay: 104 (Eyre 1980)
< Sweetbay - Swamp Tupelo / Osmunda Loamy Wet Forested Seeps (Turner et al. 1999)
= Upper Prairie Creek/Upper Wet community (Nixon et al. 1983a)
? Wet creek bottom vegetation (Nixon and Ward 1988)
? Wetland Baygall Shrub Thicket (Marks and Harcombe 1981)
- 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.
- Bridges, E. L., and S. L. Orzell. 1989a. Longleaf pine communities of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. Natural Areas Journal 9:246-263.
- Brooks, A. R., E. S. Nixon, and J. A. Neal. 1993. Woody vegetation of wet creek bottom communities in eastern Texas. Castanea 58:185-196.
- 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.
- Groat, C. G. 1990. Generalized geologic map of Louisiana. Louisiana Geologic Survey. 1 p.
- 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]
- Marks, P. L., and P. A. Harcombe. 1981. Forest vegetation of the Big Thicket, southeast Texas. Ecological Monographs 51:287-305.
- Martin, D. L., and L. M. Smith. 1991. A survey and description of the natural plant communities of the Kisatchie National Forest, Winn and Kisatchie districts. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Rouge, LA. 372 pp.
- Matos, J. A., and D. C. Rudolph. 1985. The vegetation of the Roy E. Larsen Sandylands Sanctuary in the Big Thicket of Texas. Castanea 50:228-249.
- Nixon, E. S., B. L. Ehrhart, J. S. Neck, and R. L. Ward. 1983a. Woody, streamside vegetation of Prairie Creek in East Texas. Texas Journal of Science 305:205-213.
- Nixon, E. S., and J. R. Ward. 1988. Vegetation of a wet creek bottom site in eastern Texas. Texas Journal of Science 40:358-361.
- Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 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.
- Smith, Latimore M. Personal communication. Natural Heritage Program Ecologist. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Natural Heritage Program, Baton Rouge.
- Soil Conservation Service. 1990. Soil survey of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Prepared by Martin, P. G., Jr., C. L. Butler, E. Scott, J. E. Lyles, M. Mariano, J. Ragus, P. Mason, and L. Schoelerman. USDA Soil Conservation Service, in cooperation with USDA Forest Service, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, and Louisiana Soil and Water Conservation Commission. 193 pp. plus maps.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Turner, R. L., J. E. Van Kley, L. S. Smith, and R. E. Evans. 1999. Ecological classification system for the national forests and adjacent areas of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The Nature Conservancy, Nacogdoches, TX. 95 pp. plus appendices.
- USFS [U.S. Forest Service]. 1988. Silvicultural examination and prescription field book. USDA Forest Service, Southern Region. Atlanta, GA. 35 pp.
- Wilkinson, D. L. 1982. Analysis of upland and streamside vegetation in the upper Big Thicket. Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A & M University, College Station. 203 pp.