Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Northern Red Oak - Sugar Maple / Mapleleaf Viburnum - Northern Spicebush Forest

Colloquial Name: Red Oak - Transitional Northern Hardwood Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: These mesic forests of oak and northern hardwoods, sometimes mixed with hemlock or pine, are distributed across the Allegheny Plateau, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie plains and Lower New England regions of the northeastern United States. They occur on slightly acidic, well-drained loamy and often rocky soils of intermediate fertility, most often positioned on midslopes and coves. Soil depth is often shallow, but some stands occur on deep tills. Most are at low to mid elevations, usually under 520 m (1700 feet), but they may range up to 765 m (2500 feet). The deciduous-to-mixed canopy is mostly closed, and the lower layers are variable in extent. Tall shrubs are well-represented, although scattered, with occasional denser patches. Herbs are sparse and bryoids are nearly absent. Ericads and other dwarf-shrubs are also nearly absent, a characteristic that distinguishes this association from most other red oak forests in the Northeast. Canopy composition is a variable mixture of Quercus rubra (usually at least 30% of the canopy), Fagus grandifolia, Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, and in some stands Pinus strobus or Tsuga canadensis. Conifers generally make up less than 20% of the canopy cover, and even in mixed stands the cover of deciduous trees exceeds that of conifers. Minor canopy associates include Fraxinus americana, Tilia americana, Betula lenta, Juglans cinerea, and Ulmus americana. Acer pensylvanicum is common as a small tree; in the central and southern portions of the distribution, Cornus florida and Prunus serotina are common small trees as well. Corylus cornuta, Viburnum acerifolium, and Hamamelis virginiana are typical shrubs, with Kalmia latifolia and Lindera benzoin occasional in all but the northern portions of the range. Typical species in the herb layer include Gaultheria procumbens, Maianthemum canadense, Aralia nudicaulis, Trientalis borealis, Uvularia sessilifolia, Medeola virginiana, Brachyelytrum erectum, Dryopteris intermedia, Polystichum acrostichoides, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, Pteridium aquilinum, and Thelypteris noveboracensis. On more nutrient-rich soils, the herb layer may contain Solidago caesia, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Dryopteris marginalis, and Eurybia divaricata. This association is distinguished from other transitional northern hardwood forests by its greater amount of oak, from other oak forests by its greater prominence of northern hardwoods and lack of dwarf-shrub ericads, and from hemlock-hardwoods by the relatively low importance of hemlock.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This type was formerly included in CEGL006173. It was separated from ~Quercus rubra - Acer saccharum - Fagus grandifolia / Viburnum acerifolium Forest (CEGL006633)$$ to more clearly distinguish the Allegheny Plateau and Lower New England characteristics from the Northern Appalachian region stands.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available