Print Report
A3719 Ammophila breviligulata - Juniperus spp. Great Lakes Dune Grassland Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This alliance occurs along the Great Lakes shores region of the United States and Canada on stabilized foredunes and varies from sparsely vegetated, active dunes to communities dominated by grasses, shrubs, and trees.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Beachgrass - Juniper species Great Lakes Dune Grassland Alliance
Colloquial Name: Great Lakes Dune Grassland
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This alliance occurs along the Great Lakes shores region of the United States and Canada on stabilized foredunes and in depositional, erosional areas such as slacks in blowouts. Component plant communities vary from sparsely vegetated, active dunes to communities dominated by grasses, shrubs, and trees, depending on the degree of sand deposition, sand erosion, and distance from the lake. Depositional areas, where Great Lakes beachgrass foredunes are found, are dominated by Ammophila breviligulata with erosional areas dominated by Calamovilfa longifolia and stabilized areas dominated by Schizachyrium scoparium. In dune fields and on the most stable dune ridges, low shrubs such as Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Juniperus communis, Juniperus horizontalis, and Hudsonia tomentosa occupy dune crests, gently to moderately sloping dunes, and also the ground layer in the savanna edge of dunes; elsewhere, deciduous shrubs are dominant, including Prunus pumila and Salix spp. High winds, distance from the lake, and changing lake levels impact this alliance.
Diagnostic Characteristics: This alliance is found along Great Lakes dunes and ranges from grassland to dwarf-shrub - grassland mixed stands dominated by a combination of Ammophila breviligulata, Juniperus horizontalis, Prunus pumila, Hudsonia tomentosa, and Juniperus communis.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This alliance was developed from a combination of previous grassland and dune-shrub alliances. These communities appear to be phases of one dunal grassland community. Further review is needed to know if separating them into individual alliances is more appropriate.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Component plant communities vary from sparsely vegetated, active dunes to communities dominated by grasses, shrubs, and trees. Communities differ depending on the degree of sand deposition, sand erosion, and distance from the lake.
Floristics: Depositional areas, where Great Lakes beachgrass foredunes are found, are dominated by Ammophila breviligulata (or in the eastern part of the range Ammophila champlainensis). Calamovilfa longifolia is common in erosional areas, such as slacks in blowouts and dune fields and Schizachyrium scoparium is typical in more stabilized areas. Other herbaceous species include Deschampsia flexuosa and Maianthemum stellatum. In dune fields and on the most stable dune ridges, especially around northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, low shrubs such as Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Hudsonia tomentosa, Juniperus communis, and Juniperus horizontalis occupy dune crests and also the ground layer in the savanna edge of dunes in dune fields and on stable dune ridges. Deciduous shrubs such as Prunus pumila, Salix cordata, and Salix myricoides (= Salix glaucophylloides) can occur and may dominate in some areas. Nonvascular species (mosses and lichens), including Cladonia sp. and Cladonia rangiferina (= Cladina rangiferina), can cover up to 50% of the ground surface in some examples.
Dynamics: High winds, distance from the lake, and changing lake levels impact this alliance along with sand deposition, sand erosion, and stabilization. Dynamic tension exists at the forest edge where trees invade dune fields, often creating wind-stressed savanna. When lake levels go down and beach and dune area increases lakeward, wind speed and sand abrasion decrease in the savanna edge, permitting forest development.
Environmental Description: This alliance is found on depositional areas, erosional areas such as slacks in blowouts. It also occurs on long flat-topped, windswept, stabilized foredunes, and low and midslope areas of dunes. Some stands contain a cryptobiotic crust on the soil.
Geographic Range: This alliance is found throughout dune areas of the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, ranging from the shores of southern Michigan in Illinois, and Indiana northward to the shores of other Great Lakes, such as Lake Superior in Wisconsin eastward to New York, including isolated occurrences along the shores of Lake Champlain, Vermont.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: IL, IN, MI, MN, NH, NY, ON, VT, WI
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.899771
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: Contains an association from A.912, A.1207, A.1062, and A.1080. Combined those singleton associations into one alliance.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- Bakowsky, W. D., and H. T. Lee. 1996. Vegetation communities of southern Ontario (draft). Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre and Southern Region STTU, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, Ontario. 87 pp.
- Chapman, K. A., D. A. Albert, and G. A. Reese. 1989. Draft descriptions of Michigan''s natural community types. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, MI. 35 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.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., and Midwest State Natural Heritage Program Ecologists. 1996. Terrestrial vegetation of the midwest United States. International classification of ecological communities: Terrestrial vegetation of the United States. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA.