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CEGL006339 Myrica gale - Morella pensylvanica Wet Shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sweetgale - Northern Bayberry Wet Shrubland
Colloquial Name: Northern Coastal Shrub Swale
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association comprises freshwater swales along the north Atlantic Coast dominated by shrubs. It occurs in depressions behind primary or secondary dunes where the water table intersects the soil surface for part of the growing season. It occurs less commonly on slow-moving rivers of outwash deposits. Substrate is sand with or without peat development. This interdunal swale is dominated by a variety of shrubs such as Morella pensylvanica, Myrica gale, Aronia x prunifolia, Ilex verticillata, Vaccinium corymbosum, Spiraea tomentosa, Spiraea alba var. latifolia, Viburnum recognitum, Lyonia ligustrina, and occasionally Alnus spp. and Salix spp. Herbaceous species tend to occur in openings and include Triadenum virginicum, Scirpus cyperinus, Thelypteris palustris, Toxicodendron radicans, and Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Sphagnum spp. are likely present in some examples, but this type needs further investigation.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: The full geographic extent of this association needs to be determined, as well as its successional relationship with other freshwater and brackish interdunal swale communities and with vegetation bordering coastal salt ponds. Further study may indicate a division into two associations, one on interdunal swales and another on streamside settings.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: This freshwater shrubland community is dominated by a variety of shrubs such as Morella pensylvanica, Myrica gale, Aronia x prunifolia, Ilex verticillata, Vaccinium corymbosum, Spiraea tomentosa, Spiraea alba var. latifolia (= Spiraea latifolia), Viburnum recognitum, Lyonia ligustrina, and occasionally Alnus spp. and Salix spp. Herbaceous species tend to occur in openings and include Triadenum virginicum, Scirpus cyperinus, and Thelypteris palustris. Vines including Toxicodendron radicans and Parthenocissus quinquefolia are also present in this community. Sphagnum spp. are likely present in some examples, but this type needs further investigation.
Dynamics: Freshwater interdunal swale wetlands occur in large dune systems that develop freshwater aquifers. Interdunal swale wetlands develop where the freshwater lens intersects the dune surface. The water table is a balance between input from precipitation and output from evapotranspiration or from drainage outlets. Perpetual drawdown tends to invoke successional shifts in vegetation from open water with or without submerged or floating aquatic plants, to emergent herbaceous vegetation to a series of shrubland associations as the duration of soil saturation decreases. Salix spp. are early pioneer shrubs, which can be displaced by other shrub species like Myrica or Morella spp. as peat and or sediments accumulate.
Environmental Description: This association occurs in freshwater swales on dunes or other low areas or depressions behind primary dunes or secondary dunes where the water table intersects the soil surface for part of the growing season. It occurs less commonly on slow-moving rivers of outwash deposits. Substrate is sand with or without peat development.
Geographic Range: Currently described from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: MA, NH, NY, RI?
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.689877
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass | S44 | 2.C |
| Formation | 2.C.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
| Division | 2.C.4.Ne Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D322 | 2.C.4.Ne |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Ne.2 Beaksedge species - Spikerush species - Panicgrass species Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Prairie & Marsh Macrogroup | M067 | 2.C.4.Ne.2 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f Northern & Mid-Atlantic Coastal Wetland Group | G752 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
| Alliance | A3650 Northern Bayberry Coastal Wet Shrubland Alliance | A3650 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
| Association | CEGL006339 Sweetgale - Northern Bayberry Wet Shrubland | CEGL006339 | 2.C.4.Ne.2.f |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Myrica gale Interdunal Swale (Lundgren 1998)
< Wet swale (Dunlop and Crow 1985)
? Wet swale (McDonnell 1979)
< Wet swale (Dunlop and Crow 1985)
? Wet swale (McDonnell 1979)
- Dunlop, D. A., and G. E. Crow. 1985. The vegetation and flora of the Seabrook Dunes with special reference to rare plants. Rhodora 87:471-486.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- Edinger, G. J., D. J. Evans, S. Gebauer, T. G. Howard, D. M. Hunt, and A. M. Olivero, editors. 2014a. Ecological communities of New York state. Second edition. A revised and expanded edition of Carol Reschke''s ecological communities of New York state. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
- Lundgren, J. A. 1998. Natural communities of coastal Massachusetts: Inventory and assessment. Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Boston, MA.
- McDonnell, M. J. 1979. The flora of Plum Island, Essex County, Massachusetts. University of New Hampshire, Agricultural Experiment Station. Station Bulletin No. 513. Durham, NH. 110 pp.
- Reschke, C. 1990. Ecological communities of New York State. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Latham, NY. 96 pp.
- Sneddon, L. A., Zaremba, R. E., and M. Adams. 2010. Vegetation classification and mapping at Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts. Natural Resources Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2010/147. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 481 pp. [http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/caco/cacorpt.pdf]
- Swain, P. C., and J. B. Kearsley. 2014. Classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts. Version 2.0. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Westborough, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/nhesp/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/natural-communities/classification-of-natural-communities.html]