Print Report
A3629 Quercus lyrata - Quercus phellos - Carya aquatica Swamp Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: These forests are typically dominated by Quercus lyrata, often with substantial Carya aquatica, and are found on low wet seasonally flooded bottomlands, floodplains, swamps, sloughs, and related habitats, primarily in the Southeastern Coastal Plain and the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Overcup Oak - Willow Oak - Water Hickory Swamp Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: Overcup Oak Bottomland Swamp Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: Stands of this alliance are normally dominated or at least codominated by Quercus lyrata, often with substantial Carya aquatica, especially in the wetter sites where no other canopy species occur. Less wet occurrences of this alliance will have substantial Liquidambar styraciflua, as well as Quercus texana or (more rarely) Quercus palustris (within their ranges). Other characteristic woody species include Acer rubrum, Carpinus caroliniana, Celtis laevigata, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Fraxinus profunda, Planera aquatica, Populus heterophylla, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus phellos (which is sometimes codominant to dominant), and Taxodium distichum. Common understory and shrub associates include Carpinus caroliniana, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Cornus foemina, Crataegus viridis, Forestiera acuminata, and Ilex decidua.
Diagnostic Characteristics: The presence and relative density of Quercus lyrata should be the primary vegetative characteristic used to identify stands in this alliance.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Information derived from old alliance Quercus lyrata - (Carya aquatica) Seasonally Flooded Forest Alliance (A.328).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Stands of this alliance are normally dominated or at least codominated by Quercus lyrata, often with substantial Carya aquatica, especially in the wetter sites where no other canopy species occur. Less wet occurrences of this alliance will have substantial Liquidambar styraciflua, as well as Quercus texana or (more rarely) Quercus palustris (within their ranges). Other characteristic woody species include Acer rubrum, Carpinus caroliniana, Celtis laevigata, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Fraxinus profunda, Planera aquatica, Populus heterophylla, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus phellos (which is sometimes codominant to dominant), Taxodium distichum, and occasionally Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus michauxii, Quercus palustris, and Ulmus americana. Common understory and shrub associates include Carpinus caroliniana, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Cornus foemina (= Cornus stricta), Crataegus viridis, Forestiera acuminata, and Ilex decidua. Species composition and density of the herbaceous stratum vary with geography and frequency of flooding.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Stands of this alliance are typically found in low wet seasonally flooded bottomlands and floodplains, river swamps, backswamps and their edges, sloughs, and related habitats. These areas have heavy clay soils of the Orders Ultisol and Vertisol and are found in floodplains and depressions. Two unusual associations placed here are a mixed oak - hardwood sand pond forest found in the western edge of the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, and an upland swamp association found in the Highland Rim (Pennyroyal Karst Plain) of Tennessee and Kentucky.
Geographic Range: Stands of this alliance are found in the Southeastern Coastal Plain and in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Plain, rarely ranging into the Interior Low Plateau and Ouachita Mountains.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, OK, TN, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899687
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: A.327 (1/.); A.328 (6/ ); A.329 (1/.); A.331 (2/ )
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- 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.