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CEGL004819 Menziesia pilosa - Vaccinium (erythrocarpum, simulatum, corymbosum) - Sorbus americana Shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Minniebush - (Southern Mountain Cranberry, Upland Highbush Blueberry, Highbush Blueberry) - American Mountain-ash Shrubland
Colloquial Name: Southern Appalachian Deciduous Heath Bald
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This deciduous shrubland is known from several exposed, rock outcrop promontories between 1500 and 1675 m (5000-5500 feet) elevation in the Mount Rogers - Whitetop massif of the southern Virginia Blue Ridge. The exposed sites are subject to low winter temperatures, high winds, and ice storms, as well as high solar irradiation and moisture evaporation during the growing season. Slope profiles are strongly convex and surface cover of exposed bedrock and boulders is >25% in plot samples. Soils are extremely acidic (mean pH = 3.9) and low in base status. Vegetation is a deciduous shrubland codominated by Menziesia pilosa, stunted Sorbus americana, and either Vaccinium simulatum or Vaccinium erythrocarpum, or both. Associated shrubs and tree saplings include Rubus canadensis, Crataegus punctata, Amelanchier laevis, Ribes rotundifolium, Ribes cynosbati, Prunus pensylvanica, Rhododendron calendulaceum, and Smilax tamnoides. The most frequent herbs are Danthonia compressa, Athyrium filix-femina ssp. asplenioides, Oclemena acuminata, Carex debilis var. rudgei, Heuchera villosa, Saxifraga michauxii, Maianthemum canadense, Carex pensylvanica, and Carex brunnescens ssp. sphaerostachya.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This community type was initially classified in a 950-plot dataset analysis of Virginia montane plot data conducted for the George Washington and Jefferson national forests and NatureServe (Fleming and Coulling 2001). At that time, it was treated as a deciduous variant of ~Rhododendron catawbiense Shrubland (CEGL003818)$$. The same group, with an additional plot sample, performed discretely in an analysis of 1050 plots of Southern Appalachian vegetation conducted for the Appalachian Trail vegetation mapping project in 2009 (Fleming and Patterson 2009a). This group (n= 4) shows close affiliation with CEGL003818 in cluster analysis, but this may be the result of spatial autocorrelation. In any case, treating these shrublands as one group produces a very awkward "type" that can vary from pure Rhododendron catawbiense to a mixed deciduous shrubland with no Rhododendron catawbiense at all. This association was placed within an evergreen formation, even though it is deciduous.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Vegetation is a deciduous shrubland that typically contains 10 to 75% cover of 0.5- to 1.5-m tall Menziesia pilosa, 10 to 50% of Sorbus americana >1.5 m tall, and up to 25% cover of either Vaccinium simulatum or Vaccinium erythrocarpum, or both. This community is slightly more diverse than associated shrublands with nearly monospecific dominance by Rhododendron catawbiense, with a mean species richness of 23 taxa per 100 m2 in three plot-sampled stands. Associated shrubs and tree saplings include Rubus canadensis, Crataegus punctata, Amelanchier laevis, Ribes rotundifolium, Ribes cynosbati, Prunus pensylvanica, Rhododendron calendulaceum, and Smilax tamnoides. Opportunities for herbaceous species appear to be somewhat greater in this all-deciduous shrubland than in the densely evergreen, Rhododendron catawbiense shrublands. The most common and abundant herbs in known stands, averaging >5% cover in plots, are Danthonia compressa, Athyrium filix-femina ssp. asplenioides, and Oclemena acuminata. Other species that occur with lower cover in 50% or more of the plot samples are Carex debilis var. rudgei, Heuchera villosa, Saxifraga michauxii, Maianthemum canadense, Carex pensylvanica, and Carex brunnescens ssp. sphaerostachya.
Dynamics: Occurrences of this shrubland may result from secondary succession after fires and logging, but may also occur as topo-edaphic climaxes on exposed, rocky sites. At present, there is little evidence of successional advance at any of the three Virginia sites, although there are stunted, widely scattered specimens of Abies fraseri and a few Picea rubens seedlings in the largest stand on Wilburn Ridge near Mount Rogers. It is not clear whether the shrublands here originated from the nearly complete destruction of spruce-fir forests on this ridge, or whether the massive bedrock promontories have always supported edaphic shrublands or woodlands with a shrub understory similar to this vegetation. At this site, the deciduous shrublands co-occur with more extensive stands of Rhododendron catawbiense-dominated shrublands, although the two occupy discrete parts of the outcrops and do not intermingle.
Environmental Description: Habitats are exposed, rocky summits and promontories between 1500 and 1675 m (5000-5500 feet) elevation. The exposed sites are subject to low winter temperatures, high winds, and ice storms, as well as high solar irradiation and moisture evaporation during the growing season. Slope profiles are strongly convex and surface cover of exposed bedrock and boulders is >25% in plot samples. Soils are extremely acidic (mean pH = 3.9) and low in base status.
Geographic Range: This community is known from three sites in the Mount Rogers - Whitetop (Balsam Mountains) massif of the southern Virginia Blue Ridge: Buzzard Rock near Whitetop, Wilburn Ridge near Mount Rogers, and Haw Orchard Mountain in Grayson Highlands State Park. It is likely in other high-elevation areas of the Appalachian Mountains.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.836335
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G2
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.2 Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation | F012 | 2.B.2 |
| Division | 2.B.2.Nc Eastern North American Grassland & Shrubland Division | D024 | 2.B.2.Nc |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.2.Nc.1 Catawba Rosebay / Michaux''s Saxifrage - Flattened Oatgrass Felsic & Mafic Scrub & Grassland Macrogroup | M506 | 2.B.2.Nc.1 |
| Group | 2.B.2.Nc.1.a Catawba Rosebay - Mountain Fetterbush - Mountain Alder Southern Appalachian Shrub Bald Group | G658 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.a |
| Alliance | A0744 Catawba Rosebay - Carolina Azalea - Mountain Laurel Shrub Bald Alliance | A0744 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.a |
| Association | CEGL004819 Minniebush - (Southern Mountain Cranberry, Upland Highbush Blueberry, Highbush Blueberry) - American Mountain-ash Shrubland | CEGL004819 | 2.B.2.Nc.1.a |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Menziesia pilosa - Vaccinium (erythrocarpum, simulatum, corymbosum) - Sorbus americana Shrubland (Fleming and Patterson 2009a)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- 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. 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 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.