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A2047 Quercus muehlenbergii - Acer saccharum - Tilia americana Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance includes a variety of dry and dry-mesic forests characterized by Quercus muehlenbergii and Acer saccharum, occurring on upper slopes and summits on limestone, dolomite, or marble substrates, ranging from Ontario, Canada, into the eastern United States.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Chinquapin Oak - Sugar Maple - American Basswood Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: Chinquapin Oak - Maple Dry Calcareous Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance includes a variety of dry and dry-mesic forests characterized by Quercus muehlenbergii and Acer saccharum, with associates including Carya ovalis, Carya ovata, Fraxinus americana, Juglans nigra, Quercus alba, and Tilia americana. Common subcanopy trees include Cercis canadensis, Cornus florida, and Ostrya virginiana. The shrub layer is often sparse and may contain Cornus alternifolia, Hamamelis virginiana, Staphylea trifolia, Viburnum prunifolium, Viburnum rafinesqueanum, and Zanthoxylum americanum. The herbaceous layer may contain Arabis laevigata, Asclepias quadrifolia, Clematis occidentalis, Packera obovata, Phryma leptostachya, Saxifraga virginiensis, and Triosteum aurantiacum. This vegetation occurs on upper slopes and summits on limestone, dolomite, or marble substrates. The alliance ranges from Ontario, Canada, into the eastern United States from the Great Lakes and Northern Appalachians south along the Allegheny Plateau and Appalachian Mountains, east to the Piedmont, and west to the North Central Tillplain and Interior Low Plateau.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Mostly closed-canopy forests characterized by Quercus muehlenbergii.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: No Data Available
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Forests of this alliance range from closed canopy on more mesic sites, generally in the southern portion of the range, to more open canopy, even approaching woodland structure with low-statured gnarled trees on steep, dry slopes. The shrub layer is similarly variable in structure. The herbaceous layer is almost always highly diverse, but ranges from patchy to well-developed.
Floristics: This alliance includes a variety of dry, dry-mesic, and mesic forests, dominated by Quercus muehlenbergii and/or Acer saccharum (within its range); the canopy often also includes other hardwood species associated with high base substrates (e.g., limestone or dolomite) under a variety of moisture conditions. These include Acer floridanum (= Acer barbatum), Carya spp., Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus quadrangulata, Juglans nigra, Quercus alba, Quercus shumardii, Tilia americana, and Liriodendron tulipifera (in the more interior portions of the alliance''s distribution). Forests in Kentucky and Tennessee have Quercus shumardii and Frangula caroliniana and occur over limestone on south-facing slopes. There are scattered occurrences on benches and clifftops on the Daniel Boone National Forest. In the Coastal Plain of Virginia, this alliance is represented by somewhat open canopy "shell barren" forests dominated by Quercus muehlenbergii with Acer floridanum. On rare occurrences of limestone in the Southern Blue Ridge of North Carolina, Quercus muehlenbergii occurs with Juglans nigra, Fraxinus americana, and Acer saccharum. Understory species may include Calycanthus floridus, Cercis canadensis, Cornus alternifolia, Cornus florida, Hydrangea arborescens, and Ostrya virginiana. In the Northeast, the shrub layer is sparse and may contain Hamamelis virginiana, Zanthoxylum americanum, and Cornus alternifolia. In some more southerly examples, shrubs may include Forestiera ligustrina, Frangula caroliniana, and Symphoricarpos orbiculatus. The herbaceous layer may contain Arabis laevigata, Asclepias quadrifolia, Clematis occidentalis (= Clematis verticillaris) (in northeastern examples), Packera obovata (= Senecio obovatus), Phryma leptostachya, Saxifraga virginiensis, and Triosteum aurantiacum.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Forests of this alliance occur on upper slopes and summits on limestone, dolomite, or marble substrates. Soils are often thin and rocky, and slopes are gentle to steep. In the Coastal Plain of Virginia, this alliance is represented by somewhat open canopy "shell barren" forests. In the Northeast, the habitat is characterized as upper slopes or summits of limestone or marble ridges with dry soil-moisture regimes. Limestone outcrops or boulders may be present, as well as Karst collapse features. In the Southeast, mesic to dry limestone-derived soils may occur as well on flatter landforms, as in the Nashville Basin of Tennessee.
Geographic Range: This alliance ranges from Ontario, Canada, into the eastern United States from the Great Lakes and Northern Appalachians south along the Allegheny Plateau and Appalachian Mountains, east to the Piedmont, and west to the North Central Tillplain and Interior Low Plateau.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: AL?, CT, DC, GA, KY, MA, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, ON, PA, SC?, TN, VA, VT, WV
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.870256
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.2 Appalachian-Northeastern Oak - Hardwood - Pine Forest & Woodland Macrogroup | M502 | 1.B.2.Na.2 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.2.b Chinquapin Oak - White Ash - Eastern Red-cedar Forest & Woodland Group | G016 | 1.B.2.Na.2.b |
| Alliance | A2047 Chinquapin Oak - Sugar Maple - American Basswood Forest Alliance | A2047 | 1.B.2.Na.2.b |
| Association | CEGL004793 Chinquapin Oak - (White Oak, Northern Red Oak) - Bitternut Hickory / Blackhaw Forest | CEGL004793 | 1.B.2.Na.2.b |
| Association | CEGL005010 Sugar Maple - Chinquapin Oak Forest | CEGL005010 | 1.B.2.Na.2.b |
| Association | CEGL006162 Sugar Maple - Chinquapin Oak / Broadleaf Sedge Forest | CEGL006162 | 1.B.2.Na.2.b |
Concept Lineage: This alliance has been split from former Quercus muehlenbergii - (Acer saccharum) Forest Alliance (A.1912). This alliance was created by the merger of the Acer saccharum - Quercus muehlenbergii Forest Alliance (I.B.2.N.a) and the Quercus muehlenbergii Forest Alliance (I.B.2.N.a) (Syracuse 8-98).
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? IA6j. Interior Calcareous Oak - Hickory Forest (Allard 1990)
>< IA6k. Sugar Maple - Oak - Hickory Forest (Allard 1990)
>< IA6k. Sugar Maple - Oak - Hickory 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.
- Bowen, B., M. Pyne, and D. Withers. 1995. An ecological survey of selected tracts in the Tennessee River Gorge: A report to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. Tennessee Natural Heritage Program, Department of Environment and Conservation, Nashville. 100 pp.
- 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]
- 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.
- Evans, M., B. Yahn, and M. Hines. 2009. Natural communities of Kentucky 2009. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfort, KY. 22 pp.
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- Smith, T. L. 1991. Natural ecological communities of Pennsylvania. First revision. Unpublished report. Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy, Middletown, PA. 111 pp.
- Swain, P. C., and J. B. Kearsley. 2011. Classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts. Version 1.4. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/natural-communities/classification-of-natural-communities.html]
- Ware, D. M. E., and S. Ware. 1992. An Acer barbatum-rich ravine forest community in the Virginia coastal plain. Castanea 57:110-122.