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A3130 Pinus taeda - Quercus alba / Viburnum spp. Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance accommodates mixed forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain that are dominated by Pinus taeda, possibly with Pinus echinata, and mixed hardwoods, particularly Quercus alba, Quercus nigra, Quercus michauxii, Quercus pagoda, Quercus laurifolia, and Quercus phellos.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Loblolly Pine - White Oak / Viburnum species Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: West Gulf Coastal Plain Loblolly Pine - White Oak Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance accommodates mixed forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain that are dominated by Pinus taeda, possibly with Pinus echinata, and mixed hardwoods, particularly Quercus alba, Quercus nigra, Quercus michauxii, Quercus pagoda, Quercus laurifolia, and Quercus phellos. Other associated hardwoods may include Nyssa sylvatica, Liquidambar styraciflua, Fagus grandifolia, Acer rubrum, Carya tomentosa, Carya cordiformis, and others. The subcanopy may include canopy species as well as Ilex opaca var. opaca, Ostrya virginiana, Carpinus caroliniana, Prunus mexicana, and Cornus florida. The short-shrub stratum may include canopy and subcanopy species, in addition to some combination of Callicarpa americana, Symplocos tinctoria, Morella cerifera, Vaccinium elliottii, Viburnum dentatum, and Viburnum acerifolium. This alliance includes natural forests occurring in the coastal plains west of the Mississippi River. Forests in this alliance dominate the landscape in the region between longleaf pine belt and Ouachitas, and west of longleaf pine range in Texas. Within the range of longleaf pine, this vegetation may occur on "peninsulas" in the Fragipan Loam Hills Subsection of Louisiana, and on hills in the western part of this subsection. The alliance also includes associations from some more non-acidic substrates, including hilltops and upper slopes in Louisiana associated with the Cook Mountain Formation and with calcareous prairies on the Fleming Formation in eastern Texas. It includes mesic to dry-mesic forests with mixed evergreen and deciduous canopies where Pinus echinata and one or more of the nominal Quercus spp. occur in varying ratios. In some associations Pinus taeda may be a dominant evergreen canopy component.
Diagnostic Characteristics: These are dry-mesic to mesic mixed pine-oak forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This alliance has an overall more mesophytic species composition than the shortleaf pine - oak forests of ~Pinus echinata - Pinus taeda - Quercus stellata Forest Alliance (A3129)$$. In regard to the floristic distinctiveness of G013 and its alliances (A3129, A3130), the available data do not reveal any specifically diagnostic or differential species in relation to similar alliances in groups from other parts of the southern coastal plains (Atlantic and East Gulf). There are, however, diagnostic and differential species that distinguish these alliances from one another. This alliance (A3130) and the related A3129 represent vegetation restricted to the West Gulf Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. They are more geographically constrained than the former alliances, parts of which they replace.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: The canopy cover in stands can range from nearly pure pine of either Pinus echinata or Pinus taeda singly or in combination to approximately 25% hardwood species. The short-shrub stratum is sparse to patchy. Vines may be sparse to moderately dense, and the herbaceous layer is sparse to moderately dense.
Floristics: Examples of this alliance have stands which are dominated by Pinus taeda and/or Pinus echinata. They may be highly variable in terms of species composition and density, due to their occurrence across a wide range of site conditions which range from dry-mesic to mesic. The canopy cover in stands can range from nearly pure pine of either Pinus echinata or Pinus taeda singly or in combination to approximately 25% hardwood species. Species composition tends to vary according to soil moisture with Pinus taeda and hardwoods such as Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus alba, Liquidambar styraciflua, and Symplocos tinctoria being more important on mesic-tending sites, and Pinus echinata attaining greater importance on drier sites. The short-shrub stratum is sparse to patchy and includes canopy seedlings and Callicarpa americana, Cornus florida, Morella cerifera, Symplocos tinctoria, Vaccinium elliottii, and Viburnum dentatum. Vines may be sparse to moderately dense and include Gelsemium sempervirens, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Smilax pumila, Smilax rotundifolia, Toxicodendron radicans, and Vitis rotundifolia. The herbaceous layer is sparse to moderately dense and includes Chasmanthium sessiliflorum, Carex spp., Eupatorium perfoliatum, Mitchella repens, and Polystichum acrostichoides. This description is based on one association which seems somewhat typical of the alliance, a natural forest known from the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas, Louisiana, eastern Texas, and southeastern Oklahoma, ~Pinus (echinata, taeda) / Symplocos tinctoria - Morella cerifera - Vaccinium elliottii Forest (CEGL008410)$$.
Dynamics: The influence and historical importance of fire on this vegetation is not completely understood. Examples of this alliance typically occur in areas where fire-return intervals were longer than in adjacent pyrogenic communities. Natural examples occur in fire-infrequent areas and likely only occurred here when adjacent pyrogenic communities burned (Martin and Smith 1993). Occasional fires, especially during particularly dry periods, have the potential to dramatically alter species composition of these forests, and could help perpetuate the Pinus taeda component. In most cases, Pinus taeda regenerates in canopy gaps created by tree falls (Martin and Smith 1993). Primary causes of such canopy gaps are Pinus taeda''s susceptibility to windthrow and blowdown damage (Baker and Langdon 1990), and southern pine beetles (Clarke et al. 2000). The extent to which individual stands developed following disturbances such as these may be difficult to discern; however, in areas where historical vegetation patterns are well known, or where evidence of disturbances are more obvious, it is quite possible. Successional Pinus taeda forests have replaced large areas of original Pinus palustris- and Pinus echinata-dominated vegetation.
Environmental Description: These forests occur on middle and lower slopes, protected ravines, broad flats and second bottoms. Within the longleaf pine belt, they may occur on ridges and upper slopes in areas topographically isolated from fire-prone uplands. Within the range of longleaf pine, this vegetation may occur on "peninsulas" in the Fragipan Loam Hills Subsection of Louisiana, and on hills in the western part of this subsection. Soils are acidic and include silt loams, sandy loams underlain by clay, silty clays and clays. Caddo silt loam is a typical soil series.
Geographic Range: Vegetation of this alliance is found in the West Gulf Coastal Plain and Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain, from Arkansas and Louisiana west to Oklahoma and Texas. One type ranges into the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes ecoregion.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AR, LA, OK, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899255
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: parts of A.404, A.129, A.394.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
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