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CEGL008517 Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum / Ostrya virginiana / Cardamine concatenata Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Northern Red Oak - Sugar Maple / Hophornbeam / Cutleaf Toothwort Forest

Colloquial Name: Central Appalachian Rich Red Oak - Sugar Maple Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community type is currently known from the Ridge and Valley region of west-central and northwestern Virginia and adjacent Maryland, with a few outliers in the Piedmont of both states. It occupies submesic slopes with various aspects, broad crests, and occasionally high alluvial terraces at low and middle elevations. Elevation ranges from less than 300 to 1146 m (<1000-3760 feet). Middle slope positions are typical, but stands also occur on lower and upper slopes. This forest association occurs in small to large patches. Acer saccharum, Quercus rubra, and, to a lesser extent, Carya spp. are the dominant trees in closed-canopy stands. Carya glabra and Carya ovata are the two most frequent hickories, but Carya cordiformis, Carya tomentosa, and Carya ovalis are also present in some stands. Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus alba, Quercus montana, Quercus velutina, Fagus grandifolia, Quercus muehlenbergii, and Tilia americana each attain importance in a subset of stands. Understory layers contain substantial reproduction of Acer saccharum and moderate representation of the other major canopy species. The shrub layer is usually very open, with much of its cover contributed by tree saplings; Ostrya virginiana is the most constant and abundant small tree/shrub, while Cornus florida, Cercis canadensis, and Hamamelis virginiana are more locally important understory species. Asimina triloba is often present and may attain moderate cover. Herbaceous growth is usually not lush and frequently exhibits patch-dominance by one to a few species. Low cover of a mix of acid-tolerant and nutrient-demanding mesophytic herbs is characteristic.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This community type has some affinities to ~Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum - Liriodendron tulipifera Forest (CEGL006125)$$ that is centered in the high Allegheny Mountains and lower New England regions to the north, but it is typically associated with more calcareous soils and differs considerably in floristic composition. Thus, this association could move to the same alliance as ~Quercus montana - Carya ovata - Quercus rubra / Acer saccharum Forest (CEGL007268)$$ (i.e., ~Quercus montana - Quercus rubra Forest Alliance (A0250)$$), with which it shares both similar floristics and geography.Liriodendron tulipifera is inconstant (52% constancy) in plot-sampled Central Appalachian stands of this association (CEGL008517) and entirely absent from stands above about 975 m (3200 feet). In two Virginia plots, there is evidence (in the form of numerous large, rotting boles) that Castanea dentata (American chestnut) was formerly dominant or codominant and that this type has developed as a residual type following chestnut blight. The Middle Mountain (Highland County) stand is especially important because the site evidently escaped logging and contains an essentially complete record of successional change since the demise of Castanea dentata.

Similar oak - hickory - sugar maple vegetation is reported by Andreu and Tukman (1995) and Bryant (1981) from Tennessee and Kentucky. In the old-growth forests of the Kentucky Eden Shale Belt, young Acer saccharum reproduction was abundant in all stands, while oak and hickory reproduction was scarce, suggesting that a reduction of wildfire frequencies was contributing to successional replacement of oak-hickory forests by Acer saccharum (Bryant 1981). The resemblance of these forests to some aspects of the Central Appalachian type is striking, but comparable quantitative data on environmental factors and total floristic composition are needed to sort out ecologically meaningful units from across a considerable geographic range.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This forest association occurs in small to large patches. Acer saccharum, Quercus rubra, and, to a lesser extent, Carya spp. are the dominant trees in closed-canopy stands. Carya glabra and Carya ovata are the two most frequent hickories, but Carya cordiformis, Carya tomentosa (= Carya alba), and Carya ovalis are also present in some stands. Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus alba, Quercus montana (= Quercus prinus), Quercus velutina, Fagus grandifolia, and Tilia americana each attain importance in a subset of stands. Understory layers contain substantial reproduction of Acer saccharum and moderate representation of the other major canopy species. The shrub layer is usually very open, with much of its cover contributed by tree saplings; Ostrya virginiana is the most constant and abundant small tree/shrub, while Cornus florida, Cercis canadensis, and Hamamelis virginiana are more locally important understory species. Herbaceous growth is usually not lush and frequently exhibits patch-dominance by one to a few species. The most constant and/or abundant herbs in the type''s principal Ridge and Valley range are Ageratina altissima, Amphicarpaea bracteata, Arabis laevigata, Bromus pubescens, Cardamine concatenata, Carex digitalis, Carex platyphylla, Claytonia virginica, Eurybia divaricata (= Aster divaricatus), Festuca subverticillata, Polystichum acrostichoides, and Solidago caesia. Species richness in 42 plot-sampled stands ranges from 17 to 84 taxa per 400 m2 (mean = 50).

Dynamics:  At some sites, this community type appears to result from the invasion of fire-suppressed oak-hickory stands by Acer saccharum.
Environmental Description:  The community occupies submesic slopes with various aspects, broad crests, and occasionally high alluvial terraces at low and middle elevations. Elevation ranges from less than 300 to 1146 m (<1000-3760 feet). Middle slope positions are typical, but stands also occur on lower and upper slopes. Habitats only occasionally have substantial surface cover of bedrock or stones; at most sites, leaf litter is the predominant surface substrate. Soil moisture regime is intermediate between that of mesic cove forests and that of subxeric forests and woodlands of rocky, calcareous slopes. Soil samples collected from plots are friable, light to dark brown silt loams or clay loams that are strongly to moderately acidic (mean pH = 5.0) but have moderately high calcium values (mean about 1200 ppm). Parent geologic material of Ridge and Valley sites includes limestone, dolomite, interbedded limestone and sandstone, calcareous shales and calcareous sandstone. Piedmont sites occur on calcareous Triassic siltstones and interbedded metasedimentary and intrusive mafic rocks of the Potomac River valley.
Geographic Range: This community type is currently known from the Ridge and Valley region of west-central and northwestern Virginia and adjacent Maryland, with a few outliers in the Piedmont of both states. The type may be more widespread than documentation indicates. Within the known range, it appears to be widely but somewhat locally distributed on fertile Ridge and Valley substrates and very locally on calcium-enriched substrates of the Piedmont Plateau. Similar vegetation has been observed in the Cumberland Mountains of southwestern Virginia, but its disposition is uncertain.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  MD, VA, WV


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G4

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 A3303 <i>Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum - Liriodendron tulipifera</i> Forest Alliance A3303 1.B.2.Na.3.b
Association CEGL008517 Northern Red Oak - Sugar Maple / Hophornbeam / Cutleaf Toothwort Forest CEGL008517 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: > Acer saccharum - Carya glabra - Ostrya virginiana Alliance: Fraxinus americana - Juglans cinerea / Hydrophyllum virginianum Association (Rawinski et al. 1994)
> Acer saccharum - Carya ovata / Cercis canadensis / Muhlenbergia tenuiflora Forest (Fleming and Moorhead 2000)
= Acer saccharum - Quercus rubra - Carya (glabra, ovata) / Ageratina altissima - Bromus pubescens Forest (Fleming and Coulling 2001)
> Acer saccharum - Quercus rubra - Carya glabra / Ageratina altissima Association (Fleming and Moorhead 1996)
= Acer saccharum var. saccharum - Quercus rubra - Carya (glabra, ovata) / Ageratina altissima Forest (Fleming 1999)
= Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum / Ostrya virginiana / Cardamine concatenata Forest (Fleming and Taverna 2006)
= Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum / Ostrya virginiana / Cardamine concatenata Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2009a)
= Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum / Ostrya virginiana / Cardamine concatenata Forest (Fleming et al. 2007b)
= Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum / Ostrya virginiana / Cardamine concatenata Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2009b)
< Sugar Maple: 27 (Eyre 1980) [pro parte.]
< Yellow-Poplar - White Oak - Northern Red Oak: 59 (Eyre 1980) [yellow-poplar - white oak - sugar maple variant, pro parte.]
Concept Author(s): G.P. Fleming and P.P Coulling (2001)

Author of Description: G.P. Fleming

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 02-23-10
  • Andreu, M. G., and M. L. Tukman. 1995. Forest communities of the Tellico Lake Area, East Tennessee. M.F. project report, Duke University, School of the Environment. Durham, NC. 66 pp. plus appendices.
  • Bryant, W. S. 1981. Oak-hickory forests of the Eden Shale Belt: A preliminary report. Transactions of the Kentucky Academy of Science 42:41-45.
  • Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
  • Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
  • Fleming, G. P. 1999. Plant communities of limestone, dolomite, and other calcareous substrates in the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 99-4. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. Unpublished report submitted to the USDA Forest Service. 218 pp. plus appendices.
  • 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., K. Taverna, and P. P. Coulling. 2007b. Vegetation classification for the National Capitol Region parks, eastern region. Regional (VA-MD-DC) analysis prepared for NatureServe and USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program, March 2007. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
  • Fleming, G. P., and K. D. Patterson. 2009a. A vegetation classification for the Appalachian Trail: Virginia south to Georgia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. In-house analysis, March 2009.
  • 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 K. Taverna. 2006. Vegetation classification for the National Capitol Region parks, western region. Regional (VA-WVA-MD-DC) analysis prepared for NatureServe and USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program, March 2006. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond.
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  • Fleming, G. P., and W. H. Moorhead, III. 2000. Plant communities and ecological land units of the Peter''s Mountain area, James River Ranger District, George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 00-07. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. Unpublished report submitted to the USDA Forest Service. 195 pp. plus appendices.
  • Harrison, J. W. 2011. The natural communities of Maryland: 2011 working list of ecological community groups and community types. Unpublished report. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, Natural Heritage Program, Annapolis. 33 pp.
  • 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.
  • Rawinski, T. J., G. P. Fleming, and F. V. Judge. 1994. Forest vegetation of the Ramsey''s Draft and Little Laurel Run Research Natural Areas, Virginia: Baseline ecological monitoring and classification. Natural Heritage Technical Report 94-14. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. 45 pp. plus appendices.