Print Report
G601 Quercus muehlenbergii - Quercus shumardii - Fraxinus quadrangulata Forest & Woodland Group
Type Concept Sentence: This vegetation includes relatively dry calcareous forests and woodlands of temperate eastern North America, especially the unglaciated forest region of the south-central United States, in which various combinations of Fraxinus quadrangulata, Juniperus virginiana, Quercus muehlenbergii, and/or Quercus shumardii are characteristic.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Chinquapin Oak - Shumard Oak - Blue Ash Forest & Woodland Group
Colloquial Name: South-Central Interior Alkaline Forest & Woodland
Hierarchy Level: Group
Type Concept: This group encompasses relatively dry calcareous forests and woodlands of temperate eastern North America, especially the unglaciated forest region of the south-central United States, in which various combinations of Fraxinus quadrangulata, Juniperus virginiana, Quercus muehlenbergii, and/or Quercus shumardii are characteristic. Examples can occur on a variety of topographic and landscape positions, including ridgetops and upper and midslopes, or rarely on the Atlantic Coastal Plain where erosion has exposed Tertiary-aged shell deposits or limesands. Droughts, fires, soil depth, and/or topographic position can determine the relative mixture of deciduous hardwood versus evergreen trees. In the Southern Ridge and Valley region, the Central Basin of Tennessee, the escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau and other related areas, these forests may cover large areas; elsewhere, they occur as relatively small inclusions within a forest matrix of other oak and pine species.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Tree canopy dominated by Quercus muehlenbergii, or containing Quercus muehlenbergii with some combination of Acer saccharum, Carya ovata, Carya carolinae-septentrionalis, Cotinus obovatus, Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus quadrangulata, Juniperus virginiana, Quercus alba, Quercus shumardii, Quercus rubra, and/or Quercus velutina; or open woodlands with Juniperus virginiana dominant and some combination of the above hardwoods. Soils or parent material are calcareous and relatively dry.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This group has a fairly broad range but a restricted environmental setting. Tree species composition is not too variable, but shrub and herb composition is not well-described and may vary substantially across the range. Further review of overall composition is needed to solidify the concept. Old-field Juniperus virginiana woodlands are excluded and placed in ~Eastern North American Native Ruderal Forest Group (G030)$$. Limestone substrates that are dry-mesic to mesic are placed within other groups because moisture and other factors outweigh the limestone influence, at least at the group level. For example, Nelson (2005) states that the Mesic Limestone-Dolomite Forest in Missouri shares many species with Mesic Loess/Glacial Till Forest.
Despite the overlap in some of the key calcareous diagnostic species between this group and ~Northeastern Chinquapin Oak - Red-cedar Alkaline Forest & Woodland Group (G016)$$, the full composition of species found on these calcareous sites shows stronger affinities with the south-central forests of this macrogroup.
Despite the overlap in some of the key calcareous diagnostic species between this group and ~Northeastern Chinquapin Oak - Red-cedar Alkaline Forest & Woodland Group (G016)$$, the full composition of species found on these calcareous sites shows stronger affinities with the south-central forests of this macrogroup.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This group encompasses a range of physiognomies from closed-canopy forest to open woodland. Two major subgroupings of thin-soiled woodlands versus closed-canopy forests on somewhat deeper soils can be recognized.
Floristics: Canopy dominants more-or-less throughout the range include Quercus muehlenbergii or Quercus shumardii, with other associates such as Acer saccharum, Carya ovata, Carya carolinae-septentrionalis, Cotinus obovatus, Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus quadrangulata, Juniperus virginiana, Quercus shumardii, Quercus rubra, and/or Quercus velutina. In addition, Quercus alba is a common associate; Ilex opaca is occasional. Other tree species characteristic in parts of the group''s range include Acer floridanum (= Acer barbatum), Acer leucoderme, Celtis spp., Fraxinus quadrangulata, and Ulmus alata. Cercis canadensis is a characteristic tall shrub or subcanopy tree. The herb layer varies geographically and according to canopy closure.
Dynamics: The effects of droughts and fires are factors determining the relative mixture of deciduous hardwood versus evergreen trees in stands of this group.
Environmental Description: Climate: This group is found in the temperate portions of the eastern United States, mostly south of the glacial boundary. It tends to occur on portions of the landscape with warmer exposures. Soil/substrate/hydrology: These forests are associated with dry calcareous substrates such as limestone and dolomite. They occur on a variety of topographic and landscape positions, including ridgetops and upper and midslopes, or very rarely on the Atlantic Coastal Plain where erosion has exposed Tertiary-aged shell deposits or limesands. The soil moisture regime is dry to dry-mesic.
Geographic Range: This group is scattered over the south-central and eastern United States, from the Carolinas south to Alabama, and west to include the Interior Low Plateau, the Ozarks, and parts of Oklahoma and Texas.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, AR, GA, IA?, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX?, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.858459
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
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.e Chinquapin Oak - Shumard Oak - Blue Ash Forest & Woodland Group | G601 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
| Alliance | A0794 Blue Ash - Bur Oak / Giant Cane Open Woodland Alliance | A0794 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
| Alliance | A2060 Chinquapin Oak - Sugar Maple - White Ash Forest Alliance | A2060 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
| Alliance | A3273 Chinquapin Oak - Blue Ash - Eastern Red-cedar Woodland Alliance | A3273 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
| Alliance | A3275 Ashe''s Juniper Ozark Woodland Alliance | A3275 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
| Alliance | A3276 Chinquapin Oak - Hickory species - Bastard Oak Forest Alliance | A3276 | 1.B.2.Na.1.e |
Concept Lineage: G346 merged into G601 (MP 12-18-12).
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Chinquapin Oak - Ash - Red-cedar Forest Group (Faber-Langendoen and Menard 2006) [This group includes forests further west in which Juniperus ashei is characteristic.]
- Campbell, J. J. N. 1980a. Present and presettlement forest conditions in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kentucky, Lexington. 109 pp. [Excerpts only]
- Campbell, J. J. N. 1989b. Historical evidence of presettlement forest composition in the Inner Bluegrass of Kentucky. Pages 231-246 in: G. Rink and C. A. Budelsky, editors. Proceedings of the Seventh Central Hardwood Forest Conference, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
- Campbell, J. J. N. 1996. Classification of forest, soil and land types on Daniel Boone National Forest. Technical report to Daniel Boone National Forest. The Nature Conservancy, Kentucky Chapter, Lexington, KY.
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- Campbell, J. J. N., and W. R. Seymour. 2011a. A review of native vegetation types in the Black Belt of Mississippi and Alabama, with suggested relationships to the catenas of soil series. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 56(2-3):166-184.
- Campbell, J. J. N., and W. R. Seymour. 2011b. The vegetation of Pulliam Prairie, Chickasaw County, Mississippi: a significant remnant of pre-Columbian landscape in the Black Belt. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 56(2-3):248-263.
- Crites, G. D., and E. E. C. Clebsch. 1986. Woody vegetation in the inner Nashville Basin: An example from the Cheek Bend area of the central Duck River valley. ASB Bulletin 33:167-177.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, S. Gawler, M. Hall, C. Josse, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, L. Sneddon, K. Schulz, J. Teague, M. Russo, K. Snow, and P. Comer, editors. 2010-2019a. Divisions, Macrogroups and Groups for the Revised U.S. National Vegetation Classification. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. plus appendices. [in preparation]
- Faber-Langendoen, D., and S. Menard. 2006. A key to eastern forests of the United States: Macrogroups, groups, and alliances. September 15, 2006. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
- Fleming, G. P. 2001a. Community types of Coastal Plain calcareous ravines in Virginia. Preliminary analysis and classification. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. 4 pp.
- Nelson, P. 2005. The terrestrial natural communities of Missouri. Third edition. Missouri Natural Areas Committee, Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO. 550 pp.
- Palmer-Ball, B., Jr., J. J. N. Campbell, M. E. Medley, D. T. Towles, J. R. MacGregor, and R. R. Cicerello. 1988. Cooperative inventory of endangered, threatened, sensitive and rare species, Daniel Boone National Forest, Somerset Ranger District. USDA Forest Service, Daniel Boone National Forest, Berea, KY. 244 pp.