Print Report
A3709 Ulmus americana - Ulmus crassifolia - Celtis laevigata West Gulf Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance unifies a series of primarily temporarily flooded bottomland and floodplain forests from the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, and from adjacent ecoregions, which contain Ulmus americana and/or Ulmus crassifolia as dominants or codominants.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Elm - Cedar Elm - Sugarberry West Gulf Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest Alliance
Colloquial Name: West Gulf Coastal Plain Elm - Sugarberry Floodplain Forest
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance unifies a suite of primarily temporarily flooded bottomland and floodplain forests from the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas as well as from adjacent ecoregions (Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, peripherally the East Gulf Coastal Plain). All of these associations contain Ulmus americana and/or Ulmus crassifolia as dominants or codominants. Ulmus crassifolia is found in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain and the West Gulf Coastal Plain, ranging west into central Texas, but is occasionally found east of the Mississippi River. An additional frequent component of these forests is Celtis laevigata. Other species which may be found in examples of this alliance include Carya illinoinensis, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Gleditsia triacanthos, Maclura pomifera, Populus heterophylla, Quercus sinuata var. sinuata, Quercus texana, and Ulmus rubra. Some understory and ground layer components include Bidens aristosa, Carex cherokeensis, Carex digitalis, Geum canadense, Glyceria striata, Leersia virginica, Sabal minor, and Trepocarpus aethusae.
Diagnostic Characteristics: These are floodplain and bottomland forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain and adjacent regions dominated by some combination of Carya illinoinensis, Celtis laevigata, Ulmus americana, and/or Ulmus crassifolia. This combination of floristics and biogeography is diagnostic.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Some examples of this alliance in the West Gulf Coastal Plain may intergrade with, and possibly be difficult to distinguish from, examples of ~Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Platanus occidentalis - Acer saccharinum Ozark-Ouachita Floodplain Forest Alliance (A3700)$$, but examples of this latter alliance would be expected to have dominance shared among Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Ulmus americana, and Acer saccharinum, and to have less, if any, presence of Ulmus crassifolia. There is some uncertainty about the status of ~Ulmus crassifolia - Celtis laevigata - (Ulmus rubra) / Carex digitalis - Geum canadense Floodplain Forest (CEGL007950)$$ and ~Ulmus alata - Liquidambar styraciflua / Celtis laevigata / Trepocarpus aethusae Calcareous Floodplain Forest (CEGL007951)$$, both of old alliance A.283. They are very closely related and their species compositions have been affected to one degree of another by "high-grading," with CEGL007951 being the more "disturbed" of the two.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: In bottomlands along the Red River in Arkansas and probably adjacent areas of Oklahoma and Texas, the structure of stands is an open forest or woodland with a ground layer dominated by grasses, sedges and Sabal minor.
Floristics: Stands are dominated by some combination of Celtis laevigata, Ulmus crassifolia, and Ulmus americana. Other species which may be found in examples of this alliance include Carya illinoinensis, Cercis canadensis var. canadensis, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Gleditsia triacanthos, Maclura pomifera, Populus heterophylla, Quercus sinuata var. sinuata, Quercus texana, and Ulmus rubra. Vines may include Nekemias arborea (= Ampelopsis arborea), Berchemia scandens, Campsis radicans, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Toxicodendron radicans, and Vitis cinerea. Some understory and ground layer components include Arundinaria gigantea, Bidens aristosa, Boehmeria cylindrica, Carex cherokeensis, Carex digitalis, Geum canadense, Glyceria striata, Helianthus grosseserratus, Leersia oryzoides, Leersia virginica, Sabal minor, and Trepocarpus aethusae. In bottomlands along the Red River in Arkansas and probably adjacent areas of Oklahoma and Texas, Quercus sinuata dominates along with Ulmus crassifolia. Other common species include Acer saccharinum, Celtis laevigata, Quercus falcata, Quercus laurifolia, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus phellos, Quercus shumardii, and Ulmus americana. The codominant Ulmus crassifolia is found in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain and the West Gulf Coastal Plain, ranging west into central Texas, but is occasionally found east of the Mississippi River.
Dynamics: In the riparian mesic blackland woodland communities, including native Maclura pomifera woodlands, succession of woody vegetation is rapid during periods without fire, forming almost impenetrable thickets of vines and shrubs. Temporarily high water tables probably strongly influence herbaceous composition and moderately influence woody species composition.
Environmental Description: Component associations are found in a variety of habitats, including bottomlands in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain and Gulf Coastal Plain, including along the southwestern periphery of the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion of eastern Texas. One component association is only known from ponds on Macon Ridge in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain of northeastern Louisiana. Another is found In bottomlands along the Red River in Arkansas and probably adjacent areas of Oklahoma and Texas. The riparian mesic blackland woodlands occur as narrow communities found between ephemeral streams and dry-mesic and mesic blackland prairie. Temporarily high water tables as well as fire probably strongly influence the herbaceous community as well as woody species composition and structure.
Geographic Range: This alliance is found in the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas as well as from adjacent ecoregions (Mississippi River Alluvial Plain and peripherally the East Gulf Coastal Plain). One association is attributed to the East Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama, Mississippi, and possibly Tennessee.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: AL, AR, LA, MS, OK?, TN, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899761
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: This new alliance contains members of seven old alliances, primarily temporarily flooded deciduous forests (two are upland woodlands and one is a seasonally flooded pond). A.282 (1/4); A.283 (2/9); A.286 (2/13); A.291 (1/6); A.316 (1/17); A.1916 (1/1); A.1917 (1/1); no proto-alliance.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Celtis laevigata (Foti et al. 1994)
? Cedar Elm - Hackberry / Justicia Wet-Mesic Stream Bottoms (Turner et al. 1999)
< P1B3c1V9b. Celtis laevigata - Ulmus crassifolia - Fraxinus spp. (Foti et al. 1994) [Description says "MAP."]
< Sugarberry-Elm Series (Diamond 1993) [Diamond type not restricted to coastal plains.]
? Cedar Elm - Hackberry / Justicia Wet-Mesic Stream Bottoms (Turner et al. 1999)
< P1B3c1V9b. Celtis laevigata - Ulmus crassifolia - Fraxinus spp. (Foti et al. 1994) [Description says "MAP."]
< Sugarberry-Elm Series (Diamond 1993) [Diamond type not restricted to coastal plains.]
- Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 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.
- Foti, T., M. Blaney, X. Li, and K. G. Smith. 1994. A classification system for the natural vegetation of Arkansas. Proceedings of the Arkansas Academy of Science 48:50-53.
- Foti, T., compiler. 1994b. Natural vegetation classification system of Arkansas, draft five. Unpublished document. Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Little Rock. 8 pp.
- Hoagland, B. W. 1998a. Classification of Oklahoma vegetation types. Working draft. University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory, Norman. 43 pp.
- Turner, R. L., J. E. Van Kley, L. S. Smith, and R. E. Evans. 1999. Ecological classification system for the national forests and adjacent areas of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The Nature Conservancy, Nacogdoches, TX. 95 pp. plus appendices.