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A3350 Sabal palmetto - Quercus virginiana - Magnolia virginiana Swamp Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This forest is dominated by broad-leaved evergreen trees and the palm tree Sabal palmetto. It occupies flat lowlands along the southern and outermost portions of the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, usually over limestone substrates adjacent to the floodplain of spring-fed rivers with relatively constant flows or it occupies large areas of broad, shallow, mucky or seepy wetlands which generally do not receive overbank flooding.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Cabbage Palmetto - Live Oak - Sweetbay Swamp Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: Hydric Hammock Swamp Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: The vegetation of this alliance is characterized by mixed hardwood species, often with hydric oak species. These forests have a moderately diverse canopy, usually composed of Liquidambar styraciflua, Magnolia virginiana, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus virginiana, Sabal palmetto, Ulmus americana, and sometimes also Acer rubrum, Celtis laevigata, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Pinus taeda, Quercus nigra, and other trees. This alliance occupies flat lowlands along the southern and outermost portions of the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, often over limestone substrates. In Florida, examples of this alliance are often found adjacent to the floodplain of spring-fed rivers with relatively constant flows. In some areas, such as the Big Bend region of Florida, they occupy large areas of broad, shallow, mucky or seepy wetlands but generally do not receive overbank flooding. In Alabama, this alliance is apparently confined to floodplains of the Mobile-Tensaw, where examples are topographically higher than the surrounding floodplains.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Broad-leaved evergreen canopy forest in saturated wet areas, often which have a limestone influence. Typically the dominant or codominant trees include Magnolia virginiana, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus virginiana, Sabal palmetto, and Ulmus americana.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This alliance (A3350) is roughly based on the ecological system ~Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock (CES203.501)$$. Note on the three old NVC alliances which preceded this alliance (A3350): "There may be some difficulty in distinguishing examples of the various saturated alliances which involve Sabal palmetto (former Sabal palmetto - Quercus virginiana Saturated Forest Alliance (A.61), Sabal palmetto - Quercus laurifolia - Quercus virginiana - Magnolia virginiana - Ulmus americana Saturated Forest Alliance (A.380), Sabal palmetto Saturated Woodland Alliance (A.488)). These all represent, at least in part, various kinds of hydric hammocks."
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: The vegetation of hydric hammocks is characterized by broad-leaved evergreen trees (Vince et al. 1989) and palm trees of Sabal palmetto.
Floristics: Examples are characterized by a moderately diverse canopy, usually composed of Liquidambar styraciflua, Magnolia virginiana, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus virginiana, Sabal palmetto, Ulmus americana (= var. floridana), and sometimes also Acer rubrum, Celtis laevigata, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Pinus taeda, Quercus nigra, and other trees. Typical understory tree and shrub species can include Carpinus caroliniana ssp. caroliniana, Cornus foemina, Diospyros virginiana, Magnolia virginiana, Nyssa biflora, Persea palustris, and the canopy tree species. Typical shrubs include Callicarpa americana, Cornus foemina, Diospyros virginiana, Ilex cassine, Ilex glabra, Morella cerifera (= Myrica cerifera), Myrsine cubana (= Rapanea punctata), Persea palustris, Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Sabal minor, and Viburnum obovatum. Sapindus saponaria can be a shrub and subcanopy codominant on limestone in the Florida peninsula. Typical woody vines or lianas include Nekemias arborea (= Ampelopsis arborea), Berchemia scandens, Campsis radicans, Decumaria barbara, Gelsemium sempervirens, Smilax auriculata, Smilax bona-nox, Smilax glauca, Toxicodendron radicans, and Vitis rotundifolia. Herbs include Blechnum serrulatum, Cladium mariscus ssp. jamaicense (= Cladium jamaicense), Elytraria caroliniensis, Galactia elliottii, Osmunda cinnamomea, Woodwardia virginica, and the epiphyte Phlebodium aureum. On Kiawah Island, South Carolina, open hydric hammock woodland has a dense herbaceous layer containing Boehmeria cylindrica, Carex stipata var. maxima, Cladium mariscus ssp. jamaicense (= Cladium jamaicense), Glyceria septentrionalis, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Rhynchospora caduca, Woodwardia areolata, and Woodwardia virginica. Stands comprised almost exclusively of Sabal palmetto, Quercus virginiana, and Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola abut the salt marshes of the Gulf Coast of Florida and the freshwater marshes of the St. John''s and Myakka river basins. Species richness in hydric hammocks is generally favored by the absence of fire, salt, timber harvest, excessive dry-down, and flooding. Sabal palmetto is absent only from hydric hammocks situated outside of its native range (Vince et al. 1989).
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Hydric hammocks in Florida typically form where deep groundwater seeps slowly from limestone outcrops (Ewel 1990b). They reside on organic or sandy soils with organic content which are poorly drained with high water tables. The hydrology is seasonally saturated, with rare surface water. They are frequently located between mesic hammock or pine flatwoods on the upper side, and river swamps, wet prairies, or marshes on the lower side (Vince et al. 1989). On Kiawah Island, South Carolina, woodlands dominated by Sabal palmetto occupy old dune swales and extensive low flats between old dune ridges.
Geographic Range: This alliance occurs in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and in southern Alabama. In Alabama, this alliance is apparently confined to floodplains of the Mobile-Tensaw (A. Schotz pers. comm.).
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, FL, GA, NC, SC
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899474
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: (pasted in from CES203.501 with some edits in track changes)
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: >< Cabbage Palmetto: 74 (Eyre 1980)
= Hydric Hammock (Vince et al. 1989)
= Hydric Hammock (FNAI 2010a)
? Low hammock (Richardson 1977)
= Hydric Hammock (Vince et al. 1989)
= Hydric Hammock (FNAI 2010a)
? Low hammock (Richardson 1977)
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- Chafin, L. 2011. Georgia''s natural communities and associated rare plant and animal species: Thumbnail accounts. Based on "Guide to the Natural Communities of Georgia," by Edwards et al. 2013. University of Georgia Press. Georgia Nongame Conservation Section, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources. 125 pp.
- Ewel, K. C. 1990b. Swamps. Pages 281-323 in: R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel, editors. Ecosystems of Florida. University of Central Florida Press, Orlando.
- Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
- FNAI [Florida Natural Areas Inventory]. 2010a. Guide to the natural communities of Florida: 2010 edition. Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee, FL. 228 pp. [https://fnai.org/naturalcommguide.cfm]
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- Harshberger, J. W. 1914a. The vegetation of south Florida south of 27 degrees 30 minutes north, exclusive of the Florida Keys. Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science Philadelphia 7:51-189.
- Huck, R. B. 1987. Plant communities along an edaphic continuum in a central Florida watershed. Florida Scientist 50:111-128.
- Johnson, A. F., and M. G. Barbour. 1990. Dunes and maritime forests. Pages 429-480 in: R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel, editors. Ecosystems of Florida. University of Central Florida Press, Orlando.
- Kurz, H. 1942. Florida dunes and scrub, vegetation and geology. Florida Department of Conservation, Geologic Survey. Geologic Survey Bulletin No. 23. Tallahassee. 154 pp.
- Laessle, A. M. 1942. Plant communities of the Welaka area. University of Florida Biological Sciences Series No. 4. 143 pp.
- Platt, W. J., and M. W. Schwartz. 1990. Temperate hardwood forests. Pages 194-229 in: R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel, editors. Ecosystems of Florida. University of Central Florida Press, Orlando.
- Richardson, D. R. 1977. Vegetation of the Atlantic coastal ridge of Palm Beach County, Florida. Florida Scientist 40:281-330.
- Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.
- Sharitz, R. R. 1975. Forest communities of Kiawah Island. Pages F1-F39 in: W. M. Campbell, J. M. Dean, and W. D. Chamberlain, editors. Environmental inventory of Kiawah Island. Environmental Research Center, Inc., Columbia, SC.
- Stalter, R., S. Dial, and A. Laessle. 1981. Some ecological observations of the arborescent vegetation in Highlands Hammock State Park, Florida. Castanea 46:30-35.
- Vince, S. W., S. R. Humphrey, and R. W. Simons. 1989. The ecology of hydric hammocks: A community profile. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Biological Report 85(7.26). Washington, DC. 81 pp.