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A0138 Picea rubens - Betula alleghaniensis - Aesculus flava Forest Alliance

Type Concept Sentence: These are evergreen or mixed forests and woodlands dominated by Picea rubens with or without some combination of Aesculus flava, Betula alleghaniensis, and Tsuga canadensis, occurring in the Central Appalachians and Southern Blue Ridge, from West Virginia south to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Abies fraseri is sparse to absent.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Red Spruce - Yellow Birch - Yellow Buckeye Forest Alliance

Colloquial Name: Central Appalachian Red Spruce Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Alliance

Type Concept: These are evergreen or mixed forests and woodlands dominated by Picea rubens with or without some combination of Aesculus flava, Betula alleghaniensis, and Tsuga canadensis. Other species that may occur with low coverage in the canopy or subcanopy are Acer pensylvanicum, Acer spicatum, Amelanchier laevis, Halesia tetraptera var. monticola, Prunus pensylvanica, and Sorbus americana. Density and composition of shrub and herbaceous strata vary with association and geographic location. Exposed, drier sites, such as upper convex slopes or slopes with a southerly aspect, will often have high coverage of evergreen shrub species. Typical shrubs include Crataegus spp., Ilex montana, Kalmia latifolia, Leucothoe fontanesiana, Aronia melanocarpa, Rhododendron carolinianum, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron maximum, Smilax rotundifolia, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium erythrocarpum, Vaccinium simulatum, Viburnum lantanoides, and Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides. Herbaceous cover is typically sparse, but where the shrub stratum is more open, a moderate herb stratum may develop. Characteristic herbaceous species include Athyrium filix-femina, Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris campyloptera, Galax urceolata, Huperzia lucidula, Lycopodium clavatum, Lycopodium dendroideum, Lycopodium obscurum, Medeola virginiana, Mitchella repens, Oxalis montana, Rugelia nudicaulis, Schizachne purpurascens, and Trillium undulatum. Nonvascular plants are common and often abundant, especially on moister sites, where they grow on branches and around the base of trees and shrubs. Bryophyte species include Bazzania trilobata, Hylocomium splendens, Polytrichum ohioense, Ptilium crista-castrensis, and Sphagnum spp. These forests occur in the Central Appalachians and Southern Blue Ridge, from West Virginia south to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, on steep, seepy boulderfields, and on ridges and steep slopes with northeast to southwest exposures, above 1370 m (4500 feet) elevation. It descends to 1000 m (3100 feet) in the Central Appalachians. In local landscapes of the Southern Blue Ridge and Central Appalachians, this vegetation tends to occur bimodally, on high ridges and summits and steep, rocky upper slopes, and at lower elevations in frost pocket situations, where Picea rubens apparently has a competitive advantage because of moist, acidic, organic soils and/or cold-air drainage.

Diagnostic Characteristics: These are red spruce-dominated forests of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains north of the range or below the elevational limit of Abies fraseri.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Associations in this alliance occur in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains where Abies fraseri is absent or below the elevational range of Abies fraseri. Picea rubens forests in western Virginia and in eastern West Virginia may be more similar to forests in ~Picea rubens - Abies balsamea Forest Alliance (A0150)$$ in the northern portion of the Appalachian range, where Abies balsamea replaces Abies fraseri and where other Southern Appalachian endemics no longer occur. Picea rubens forests in West Virginia may be transitional between forests in these two alliances. This alliance incudes both mesic forests and drier rocky woodlands. More information is needed on rocky woodlands across the range of this group. ~Picea rubens - (Betula alleghaniensis, Aesculus flava) / Rhododendron (maximum, catawbiense) Forest (CEGL004983)$$ is transitional to A0138, and is being placed here rather than in ~Picea rubens - Abies fraseri Forest Alliance (A0136)$$.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: These are evergreen or mixed evergreen-deciduous forests and woodlands. Canopy height may be limited due to harsh climate conditions, including winds and ice damage.

Floristics: These evergreen and mixed evergreen-deciduous forests and woodlands are dominated by Picea rubens or by Picea rubens with some combination of Aesculus flava, Betula alleghaniensis, and Tsuga canadensis. Other species that may occur with low coverage in the canopy or subcanopy are Acer pensylvanicum, Acer rubrum, Acer spicatum, Amelanchier laevis, Halesia tetraptera var. monticola, Prunus pensylvanica, and Sorbus americana. Density and composition of shrub and herbaceous strata vary with association and geographic location. Exposed, drier sites, such as upper convex slopes or slopes with a southerly aspect, will often have high coverage of evergreen shrub species. Typical shrubs in this alliance include Crataegus spp., Ilex montana, Kalmia latifolia, Leucothoe fontanesiana, Aronia melanocarpa, Rhododendron carolinianum, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron maximum, Smilax rotundifolia, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium erythrocarpum, Vaccinium simulatum, Viburnum lantanoides, and Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides. Herbaceous cover is typically sparse, but where the shrub stratum is more open, a moderate herb stratum may develop. Characteristic herbaceous species include Athyrium filix-femina, Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris campyloptera, Galax urceolata, Huperzia lucidula, Lycopodium clavatum, Lycopodium dendroideum, Lycopodium obscurum, Medeola virginiana, Mitchella repens, Oxalis montana, Rugelia nudicaulis, Schizachne purpurascens, and Trillium undulatum. Nonvascular plants are common and often abundant, especially on moister sites, where they grow on branches and around the base of trees and shrubs. Bryophyte species include Bazzania trilobata, Hylocomium splendens, Polytrichum ohioense, Ptilium crista-castrensis, and Sphagnum spp.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  These forests and woodlands occur on steep, seepy boulderfields, and on ridges and steep slopes with northeast to southwest exposures, above 1370 m (4500 feet) elevation. It descends to 1000 m (3100 feet) in the Central Appalachians. In local landscapes of the Southern Blue Ridge and Central Appalachians, this vegetation tends to occur bimodally, on high ridges and summits and steep, rocky upper slopes, and at lower elevations in frost pocket situations, where Picea rubens apparently has a competitive advantage because of moist, acidic, organic soils and/or cold-air drainage.
Geographic Range: This alliance is confined to the Central Appalachians and Southern Blue Ridge, from West Virginia south to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. One association, a "transitional red spruce - northern hardwood forest," is attributed to Maryland and possibly Pennsylvania.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  MD, NC, PA?, TN, VA, WV


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.7 Sugar Maple - Yellow Birch - Eastern Hemlock Forest Macrogroup M014 1.B.2.Na.7
Group 1.B.2.Na.7.e Red Spruce - Fraser Fir - Yellow Birch Forest Group G632 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Alliance A0138 Red Spruce - Yellow Birch - Yellow Buckeye Forest Alliance A0138 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL004983 Red Spruce - (Yellow Birch, Yellow Buckeye) / (Great Laurel, Catawba Rosebay) Forest CEGL004983 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL006029 Red Spruce - Eastern Hemlock - American Beech / Intermediate Woodfern Forest CEGL006029 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL006152 Red Spruce - (Eastern Hemlock) / Great Laurel Forest CEGL006152 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL006254 Red Spruce / Mountain Laurel - Minniebush Woodland CEGL006254 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL006256 Red Spruce - (Yellow Birch, Yellow Buckeye) / Hobblebush / Clustered Goldenrod Forest CEGL006256 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL007128 Red Spruce / Skunk Currant Forest CEGL007128 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Association CEGL008501 Red Spruce / Yellow Birch / Three-lobed Whipwort Forest CEGL008501 1.B.2.Na.7.e
Concept Lineage: This alliance is equivalent to A.138 (3/3), with the addition of mixed spruce - hardwood forests CEGL004983, CEGL006256 and CEGL006029 from A.384 (3/5), and Picea rubens Woodland associations from A.546 (2/4). Name changed from Picea rubens Forest Alliance.

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: >< IA4a. Red Spruce - Fraser Fir Forest (Allard 1990)
? Oligotrophic Forest (Rawinski 1992)
>< Red Spruce - Yellow Birch: 30 (Eyre 1980)
>< Red Spruce: 32 (Eyre 1980)
Concept Author(s): R.H. Whittaker (1956)

Author of Description: M. Pyne

Acknowledgements: We have incorporated significant descriptive information previously compiled by D.J. Allard, A. S. Weakley, and K.D. Patterson.

Version Date: 12-20-18
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