Print Report
CEGL008504 Betula alleghaniensis / Sorbus americana - Acer spicatum / Polypodium appalachianum Forest
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Yellow Birch / American Mountain-ash - Mountain Maple / Appalachian Polypody Forest
Colloquial Name: Central Appalachian High-Elevation Boulderfield Woodland
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This community is known from high elevations of the Northern Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, and Allegheny Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia. It occupies steep, boulder-strewn slopes at elevations from 975 m (3200 feet) to over 1250 m (4100 feet). The type is most frequent and extensive on straight or concave, middle to upper slopes with northerly aspects, but is found occasionally on slopes with other aspects. Surface substrate is characterized by a surface cover of angular boulders weathered from granite, metabasalt (greenstone), quartzite, or sandstone. This vegetation type has a partly closed to very open canopy overwhelmingly dominated by Betula alleghaniensis. The canopy trees are usually stunted and gnarled, exhibiting the effects of frequent ice and wind damage. Tree density is typically less than that of the surrounding forests. Sorbus americana and Prunus pensylvanica are minor canopy associates. Small tree and shrub densities are variable; Sorbus americana and Acer spicatum often have high cover in these layers. Menziesia pilosa, Sambucus racemosa, Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus, and Ribes cynosbati are frequent shrubs. Herbaceous cover is often limited by the rocky substrate.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: On the landscape, this association (CEGL008504) grades into fully exposed, lichen-dominated boulderfields at one extreme, and into rocky northern hardwood, red oak, or cove forests at the other. It has not been formally documented from West Virginia but has been observed by Virginia Division of Natural Heritage ecologists at several sites, including Reddish Knob and Panther Knob, Pendleton County, and Black Mountain, Pocahontas County. It is probably widely but locally distributed at high elevations throughout the extreme western Ridge and Valley and Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This vegetation type has a partly closed to very open canopy overwhelmingly dominated by Betula alleghaniensis. The canopy trees are usually stunted and gnarled, exhibiting the effects of frequent ice and wind damage. Tree density is typically less than that of the surrounding forests. Sorbus americana and Prunus pensylvanica are minor canopy associates. Small tree and shrub densities are variable; Sorbus americana and Acer spicatum often have high cover in these layers. Menziesia pilosa, Sambucus racemosa (= Sambucus pubens), and Ribes cynosbati are frequent shrubs. Herbaceous cover is often limited by the rocky substrate, but lithophytic species such as Polypodium appalachianum may abundantly cover mossy rock surfaces. Additional characteristic herbs include Oclemena acuminata (= Aster acuminatus), Dryopteris marginalis, Hylotelephium telephioides (= Sedum telephioides), Carex brunnescens ssp. sphaerostachya, Carex aestivalis, Arisaema triphyllum, Dryopteris intermedia, Maianthemum canadense, and Polygonatum pubescens. Gymnocarpium appalachianum and Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus are rare plants associated with this vegetation. Mean species richness of plot-sampled stands is 17 taxa per 400 m2.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This community occupies steep (up to 38°), boulder-strewn slopes at elevations from 975 m to over 1250 m (3200-4100 feet). Mean elevation of plot-sampled Virginia sites is 1119 m (3672 feet). The type is most frequent and extensive on straight or concave, middle to upper slopes with northerly aspects, but is found occasionally on slopes with other aspects. Surface substrate is characterized by surface cover >75% of angular boulders weathered from granite, metabasalt (greenstone), quartzite, and sandstone. Surface cover of bryophytes and lichens on rocks is typically >60%. Mineral soil samples could not be extracted from any of the Virginia plot-sampling sites. Surficial groundwater seepage is very rare in these habitats, although perched, subsurface groundwater may be present in some localities. Extreme winter temperatures, high winds, and ice storms are frequent, and strongly influence the physiognomy of forests on the boulderfields.
Geographic Range: This community type is known from high elevations of the Northern Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, and Allegheny Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: VA, WV
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.689218
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
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.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F008 | 1.B.2 |
| Division | 1.B.2.Na Eastern North American Forest & Woodland Division | D008 | 1.B.2.Na |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.2.Na.3 Appalachian-Interior-Northeastern Mesic Forest Macrogroup | M883 | 1.B.2.Na.3 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.3.b Appalachian-Allegheny Northern Hardwood Forest | G742 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
| Alliance | A3301 Sugar Maple - American Beech - American Basswood Forest Alliance | A3301 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
| Association | CEGL008504 Yellow Birch / American Mountain-ash - Mountain Maple / Appalachian Polypody Forest | CEGL008504 | 1.B.2.Na.3.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Betula alleghaniensis / Sorbus americana - Acer spicatum / Polypodium appalachianum Forest (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- Fleming, G. P., A. Belden, Jr., K. E. Heffernan, A. C. Chazal, N. E. Van Alstine, and E. M. Butler. 2007a. A natural heritage inventory of the rock outcrops of Shenandoah National Park. Unpublished report submitted to the National Park Service. Natural Heritage Technical Report 07-01. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. 433 pp. plus appendixes.
- Fleming, G. P., K. D. Patterson, and K. Taverna. 2017. The natural communities of Virginia: A classification of ecological community groups and community types. Third approximation. Version 3.0. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. [http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/]
- Fleming, G. P., and K. D. Patterson. 2009b. Classification of selected Virginia montane wetland groups. In-house analysis, December 2009. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
- Fleming, G. P., and P. P. Coulling. 2001. Ecological communities of the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Preliminary classification and description of vegetation types. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. 317 pp.
- Fleming, G. P., and W. H. Moorhead, III. 1996. Ecological land units of the Laurel Fork Area, Highland County, Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 96-08. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. 114 pp. plus appendices.
- WVNHP [West Virginia Natural Heritage Program]. No date. Unpublished data. West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, Elkins.
- Young, J., G. Fleming, P. Townsend, and J. Foster. 2006. Vegetation of Shenandoah National Park in relation to environmental gradients. Final Report (v.1.1). Research technical report prepared for USDI, National Park Service. USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. 92 pp. plus appendices.
- Young, J., G. Fleming, W. Cass, and C. Lea. 2009. Vegetation of Shenandoah National Park in relation to environmental gradients, Version 2.0. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2009/142. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 389 pp.