Print Report
A3415 Chamaecyparis thyoides Mid-Atlantic Streamside Swamp Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance is characterized by Chamaecyparis thyoides, in either pure or mixed stands, with hardwoods such as Acer rubrum, occurring along streamsides or coastal plain river terraces, in natural settings, and also colonizing bog mats forming over artificial millponds from the New Jersey coastal plain to Maryland and Delaware.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Atlantic White-cedar Mid-Atlantic Streamside Swamp Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: Mid-Atlantic Atlantic White-cedar Streamside Swamp Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance is characterized by Chamaecyparis thyoides, occurring along streamsides or coastal plain river terraces, and also colonizing bog mats forming over artificial millponds in the mid-Atlantic, from the New Jersey coastal plain to Maryland. Associates include Magnolia virginiana, Morella cerifera, Nyssa biflora, Persea palustris, and, on the Delmarva peninsula, Alnus maritima. In New Jersey, this vegetation occurs in close association with seepage-fed Pine Barrens savanna vegetation. In Delaware and Maryland, this vegetation often arises in abandoned mill ponds.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Chamaecyparis thyoides swamp forest of streamsides and low floodplain terraces of mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain rivers.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: White-cedar swamps of the New Jersey Pine Barrens are described by Little (1950), who lists Pogonia ophioglossoides, Sarracenia purpurea, Bartonia paniculata, and Drosera rotundifolia as more characteristic of cedar swamps than of hardwood swamps in the Pine Barrens. Harshberger (1916) describes the "cedar swamp formation" of the New Jersey Pine Barrens and lists essentially the same species. Other orchid species apparently confined to cedar swamps in the Pine Barrens noted by Harshberger include Arethusa bulbosa, Platanthera blephariglottis, and Platanthera clavellata. Other associates include Carex collinsii, Kalmia angustifolia, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and Helonias bullata. Olsson (1979) describes similar white-cedar vegetation. This alliance is also described from Cape May, New Jersey, by Bernard (1963) as the "Chamaecyparis thyoides - Acer rubrum type."
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Physiognomy ranges from dense closed forest to scattered trees with an open canopy. Ranges from strongly coniferous to mixed coniferous-deciduous.
Floristics: This alliance is characterized by a canopy of abundant Chamaecyparis thyoides, either in nearly pure stands or mixed with hardwoods and other pines. Associated canopy trees include Acer rubrum, Magnolia virginiana, Nyssa sylvatica, Pinus rigida, Pinus serotina, and Pinus taeda. Common shrubs include Clethra alnifolia, Gaylussacia frondosa, Ilex glabra, Leucothoe racemosa, Lyonia lucida, Rhododendron viscosum, and Vaccinium corymbosum. Other associates include Magnolia virginiana, Morella cerifera, Nyssa biflora, Persea palustris, and, on the Delmarva peninsula, Alnus maritima (= var. maritima). Common herbaceous species of this alliance include Aralia nudicaulis, Arundinaria gigantea, Maianthemum canadense, Osmunda cinnamomea, Smilax laurifolia, Smilax rotundifolia, and Woodwardia virginica. Sphagnum hummocks are usually characteristic of this vegetation. Schizaea pusilla is apparently restricted to this vegetation, where it grows at the bases of cedar trees. Other species found in this alliance on the Delmarva peninsula include Alnus maritima, Calopogon tuberosus, Carex atlantica, Carex exilis, Dichanthelium dichotomum, Drosera rotundifolia, Dulichium arundinaceum, Eriocaulon decangulare, Glyceria obtusa, Juncus militaris, Nymphaea odorata, Orontium aquaticum, Oxypolis rigidior, Peltandra virginica, Rhynchospora alba, Selaginella apoda, Triadenum virginicum, and Vaccinium macrocarpon.
Dynamics: As a commercially important species, Atlantic white-cedar has been cut extensively throughout its range, and very few virgin or old-growth stands are known. Classification is complicated by this fact, although much research has been done on the impacts of fire in this vegetation. Although Atlantic white-cedar trees are fire-sensitive, many stands were initiated following fire. Low-intensity fires that do not burn the forest floor foster the growth of dense seedlings. Seedling mortality is high, but even mature stands initiated in this way are quite dense (McCormick 1979).
Environmental Description: Waters are generally acidic, and soils are usually thick peat deposits in basin wetlands, or mucks overlying mineral soils along watercourses. Atlantic white-cedar grows in seasonally flooded basins and along streams in the Pine Barrens. In Delaware, it is much more common along streams than it is in basins not influenced by stream flooding or seepage. In general, white-cedar reaches its greatest abundance in artificial habitats such as headwaters of dammed mill ponds in Delaware (Clancy 1993b).
Geographic Range: This alliance is found in the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain from the New Jersey to Delaware.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: DE, MD, NJ
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899539
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.3 Temperate Flooded & Swamp Forest Formation | F026 | 1.B.3 |
| Division | 1.B.3.Nb Southeastern North American Flooded & Swamp Forest Division | D062 | 1.B.3.Nb |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.3.Nb.3 Sweetbay - Swamp Bay - Pond Pine Swamp Forest Macrogroup | M032 | 1.B.3.Nb.3 |
| Group | 1.B.3.Nb.3.b Atlantic White-cedar - Pitch Pine Swamp Group | G039 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.b |
| Alliance | A3415 Atlantic White-cedar Mid-Atlantic Streamside Swamp Forest Alliance | A3415 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.b |
| Association | CEGL006078 Atlantic White-cedar - Red Maple - Sweetbay Swamp Forest | CEGL006078 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.b |
| Association | CEGL006307 Atlantic White-cedar / Seaside Alder Swamp Woodland | CEGL006307 | 1.B.3.Nb.3.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Chamaecyparis thyoides - Acer rubrum type (Bernard 1963) [described from Cape May, New Jersey]
>< Atlantic White Cedar - Red Maple Alliance (Windisch 2014a)
>< Atlantic White-Cedar: 97 (Eyre 1980)
= Southern white cedar swamp forests (McCormick 1979)
? White cedar - red maple swamp vegetation type (Olsson 1979)
? White cedar swamp (Little 1950)
>< Atlantic White Cedar - Red Maple Alliance (Windisch 2014a)
>< Atlantic White-Cedar: 97 (Eyre 1980)
= Southern white cedar swamp forests (McCormick 1979)
? White cedar - red maple swamp vegetation type (Olsson 1979)
? White cedar swamp (Little 1950)
- Bernard, J. M. 1963. Lowland forests of Cape May formation in southern New Jersey. Bulletin of the New Jersey Academy of Science 8:1-12.
- Clancy, K. 1993b. A preliminary classification of the natural communities of Delaware. Unpublished draft. Delaware Natural Heritage Inventory, Division of Parks and Recreation, Dover. 30 pp.
- Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
- Harshberger, J. W. 1916. The vegetation of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Reprinted 1970. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. 329 pp.
- Laderman, A. D. 1982. Comparative community structure of Chamaecyparis thyoides bog forests: Canopy diversity. Wetlands 2:63-87.
- Laderman, A. D. 1989. The ecology of the Atlantic white cedar wetlands: A community profile. USDI Fish and Wildlife Service. Biological Report 85(7.21). 114 pp.
- Little, S. 1950. Ecology and silviculture of whitecedar and associated hardwoods in southern New Jersey. Yale University School of Forestry Bulletin 56:1-103
- McCormick, J. 1979. The vegetation of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. In: R. T. T. Formann, editor. Pine Barrens: Ecosystem and landscape. Academic Press, New York.
- Olsson, H. 1979. Vegetation of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: A phytosociological classification. Pages 245-263 in: R. T. T. Forman, editor. Pine Barrens: Ecosystem and landscape. Academic Press, New York.
- Windisch, A .G. 2014a. Pinelands ecological communities and higher level groups with crosswalk / proposed 2008 revisions to NVC. November 16, 2014 draft. New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton.