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CEGL003606 Pinus palustris - Pinus echinata - Quercus montana / Kalmia latifolia - Rhododendron minus Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Longleaf Pine - Shortleaf Pine - Chestnut Oak / Mountain Laurel - Piedmont Rhododendron Woodland
Colloquial Name: Montane Longleaf Pine - Heath Bluff Woodland
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association potentially occurs on rocky ridges in the southern Cumberland Mountains and southern Ridge and Valley of Alabama and is definitely known from steep rocky river bluffs in the lower Piedmont of Georgia. This vegetation is characterized by a canopy dominated by sparse Pinus palustris with lesser amounts of Pinus echinata and/or Pinus taeda. Quercus montana, Quercus coccinea, and Oxydendrum arboreum are often components of the subcanopy and, in some cases, Quercus montana can be codominant. The shrub layer is nearly completely closed and dominated by Kalmia latifolia and/or Rhododendron minus. Other characteristic woody species include Nyssa sylvatica, Diospyros virginiana, Vaccinium arboreum, Vaccinium stamineum, and Vaccinium pallidum. Characteristic herbs include Eupatorium album, Pityopsis aspera var. adenolepis, Tephrosia virginiana, Chrysopsis mariana, Danthonia spicata, Pteridium aquilinum, Coreopsis major, Epigaea repens, Clinopodium georgianum, Xerophyllum asphodeloides, Schizachyrium scoparium, Andropogon gyrans, and Ionactis linariifolius.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This association concept was revived as a result of concerns by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources nongame conservation section after they began evaluating montane longleaf pine associations in the Pine Mountain area of the lower Piedmont of Georgia. It is believed that this association, with a closed evergreen shrub layer, is ecologically distinct from (and behaves differently in fire response to) the broadly defined montane longleaf pine woodland ~Pinus palustris - Pinus echinata / Quercus marilandica - (Quercus montana) / Vaccinium pallidum Woodland (CEGL008437)$$. It seems closely related to similar examples of this type originally tagged as this association in Alabama that provide habitat for Xerophyllum asphodeloides (now currently classed as ~Quercus montana - Quercus alba / Oxydendrum arboreum / Kalmia latifolia Forest (CEGL004415)$$).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This vegetation frequently is characterized by a canopy dominated by Pinus palustris with lesser amounts of Pinus echinata and/or Pinus taeda. Quercus montana (= Quercus prinus), Quercus coccinea, and Oxydendrum arboreum are also often components of the subcanopy, and in some cases, Quercus montana can be codominant. The shrub layer is nearly completely closed and dominated by Kalmia latifolia and/or Rhododendron minus. Other characteristic woody species include Nyssa sylvatica, Diospyros virginiana, Vaccinium arboreum, Vaccinium stamineum, and Vaccinium pallidum. Characteristic herbs include Eupatorium album, Pityopsis aspera var. adenolepis, Tephrosia virginiana, Chrysopsis mariana, Danthonia spicata, Pteridium aquilinum, Coreopsis major, Epigaea repens, Clinopodium georgianum, Xerophyllum asphodeloides, Schizachyrium scoparium, Andropogon gyrans, and Ionactis linariifolius.
Dynamics: This vegetation depends on periodic, growing-season fires to control understory vegetation and for the reproduction of Pinus palustris. Many of these steep sites along river bluffs can experience high-intensity catastrophic fire as result of the pyrogenic shrub layer and steep topography. The canopy dominance may shift periodically between Pinus palustris and Quercus montana as a result of catastrophic fire events.
Environmental Description: This community occurs on upper slopes and steep, rocky river and small stream bluffs. Substrates potentially include sandstone ridges in the Ridge and Valley Province of north-central Alabama and steep bluffs of Hollis quartzite in the Pine Mountain area of Georgia. The Georgia examples are typically very steep slopes with north aspect and much exposed quartzite rock. The closed evergreen shrub layer results in a vegetation structure that has a significant impact on fire behavior, especially the potential for catastrophic fire on steep slopes.
Geographic Range: This association is found in the southern Cumberland and Ridge and Valley of Alabama and lower Piedmont of Georgia.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, GA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.689459
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
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.1 White Oak - Southern Red Oak - Shortleaf Pine Forest & Woodland Macrogroup | M016 | 1.B.2.Na.1 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.1.b Shortleaf Pine - Southern Red Oak - Post Oak Forest & Woodland Group | G012 | 1.B.2.Na.1.b |
| Alliance | A3272 Longleaf Pine - Shortleaf Pine - Chestnut Oak Interior Woodland Alliance | A3272 | 1.B.2.Na.1.b |
| Association | CEGL003606 Longleaf Pine - Shortleaf Pine - Chestnut Oak / Mountain Laurel - Piedmont Rhododendron Woodland | CEGL003606 | 1.B.2.Na.1.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < IB6j. Montane Longleaf Pine Forest (Allard 1990)
- 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.
- GNHP [Georgia Natural Heritage Program]. 2018. Unpublished data. Georgia Natural Heritage Program, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Social Circle.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.