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G793 Great Lakes Coastal Rocky Shore Group
Type Concept Sentence: This group is found along the shores of the Great Lakes where gravel, cobble, or bedrock is exposed and little to no vascular vegetation is present, though nonvascular species often have high cover.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Great Lakes Coastal Rocky Shore Group
Colloquial Name: Great Lakes Coastal Rocky Shore
Hierarchy Level: Group
Type Concept: This group is found in the northern Great Lakes with examples on Lake Champlain and Lake Winnipeg. Sites have sparse cover by vascular species, generally less than 10% with pockets of higher cover. Common herbaceous species include Campanula rotundifolia, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia cespitosa, Sibbaldiopsis tridentata, and Trichophorum cespitosum. Characteristic shrubs and trees include Betula papyrifera, Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Juniperus communis, Picea glauca, Populus balsamifera, Physocarpus opulifolius, and Thuja occidentalis. The substrate can be limestone, dolostone, sandstone, metamorphic, or volcanic gravel, cobble, or bedrock. Soil is essentially absent except where it collects in cracks or depressions. Sites can be flat to moderately sloping.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Sparse (<10%) vascular vegetation on gravel, cobble, or bedrock along the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain and Lake Winnipeg. Nonvascular vegetation is often abundant but characteristic taxa are not known. Vascular vegetation may have higher cover in pockets where soil has accumulated.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Examples of this group (G793) can have vertical rockfaces in them a few feet tall or more. The point at which a vertical rockface becomes a separate cliff community and part of a cliff and rock vegetation group is not well-defined.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Short trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation can all be present but are <10% cover, on average. Nonvascular taxa often have high cover. Vascular vegetation can have higher cover in small areas, usually cracks in bedrock or pockets where soil has accumulated.
Floristics: Nonvascular plants usually have moderate to high cover but the species are not well-described. Vascular vegetation is sparse in this group. Species that may be present include Campanula rotundifolia, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia cespitosa, Sibbaldiopsis tridentata, and Trichophorum cespitosum (= Scirpus caespitosus). Characteristic shrubs and trees include Betula papyrifera, Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda, Juniperus communis, Picea glauca, Populus balsamifera, Physocarpus opulifolius, and Thuja occidentalis. Other associates may include Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Argentina anserina (= Potentilla anserina), Clinopodium arkansanum, Diervilla lonicera, Euthamia graminifolia, Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis (= Juncus balticus), and Sorbus decora.
Dynamics: The general lack of soil in stands of this group results in rapid drying of most of the surface area but small depressions or areas near the wave splash zone can be wet much longer. Ice-scour and high waves can damage or remove vegetation.
Environmental Description: This group occurs on gravel, cobble, or exposed bedrock. These can be sandstone, dolostone, limestone, metamorphic, or volcanic. Dolostone and limestone are essentially limited to where the Niagaran Escarpment is exposed in a broad arc from the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, through Michigan on the northern shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. Non-calcareous examples of this group are more widespread. Soil is limited to bedrock cracks, shallow depressions, or other areas where it can accumulate and be protected from being carried away by precipitation, wave action, and ice-scour. The zone closest to the water can be nearly devoid of vegetation due to increased effects of ice-scour and waves. Sites are flat to moderately sloping and can have small "cliffs" a few meters high within them.
Geographic Range: This group can be found along the shoreline of Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior, though it is especially common along the margins of Lake Superior, northern Lake Michigan, and northern Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. It is also found on the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake Winnipeg.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: MB, MI, MN, NY, OH?, ON, QC, VT, WI
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.931850
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.4 Temperate to Polar Scrub & Herb Coastal Vegetation Formation | F005 | 2.B.4 |
| Division | 2.B.4.Na Eastern North American Coastal Scrub & Herb Vegetation Division | D026 | 2.B.4.Na |
| Macrogroup | 2.B.4.Na.1 Eastern North American Coastal Beach & Rocky Shore Macrogroup | M060 | 2.B.4.Na.1 |
| Group | 2.B.4.Na.1.c Great Lakes Coastal Rocky Shore Group | G793 | 2.B.4.Na.1.c |
| Alliance | A3694 Limestone Calamint - Bluebell Bellflower Limestone Lakeshore Alliance | A3694 | 2.B.4.Na.1.c |
| Alliance | A3695 Tufted Hairgrass - Bluebell Bellflower Lakeshore Alliance | A3695 | 2.B.4.Na.1.c |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, S. Gawler, M. Hall, C. Josse, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, L. Sneddon, K. Schulz, J. Teague, M. Russo, K. Snow, and P. Comer, editors. 2010-2019a. Divisions, Macrogroups and Groups for the Revised U.S. National Vegetation Classification. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. plus appendices. [in preparation]
- Kost, M. A., D. A. Albert, J. G. Cohen, B. S. Slaughter, R. K. Schillo, C. R. Weber, and K. A. Chapman. 2007. Natural communities of Michigan: Classification and description. Report No. 2007-21, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing. 314 pp. [http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/reports/2007-21_Natural_Communites_of_Michigan_Classification_and_Description.pdf]