Print Report
CEGL006767 Pinus (rigida, echinata) / Hudsonia ericoides / Cladonia spp. Paleodune Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: (Pitch Pine, Shortleaf Pine) / Pine Barren Golden-heather / Cup Lichen species Paleodune Woodland
Colloquial Name: Paleodune Sand Barrens
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: Paleodune sand barrens have a very open canopy of Pinus rigida and/or Pinus echinata with 5-25% cover typical, but some are nearly treeless while others have a closing canopy. A sparse midstory of drought-stunted Sassafras albidum, Quercus stellata, or other tree oaks is also common. Shrub-form Quercus marilandica is often present in small amounts, but one variant (PD-Pb7) has over 5% shrub oak cover. A very sparse cover of low heaths such as Gaylussacia baccata and Vaccinium pallidum is sometimes present but often absent. Bare sand with a diversity of sparse herbaceous ground cover dominates, including graminoids such as Carex pensylvanica, Schizachyrium scoparium, Panicum virgatum, and Aristida spp.; subshrubs/herbs such as Hudsonia ericoides, Hudsonia tomentosa, Minuartia caroliniana, Polygonella articulata, and several Cladonia spp. often forming large mats. Rare plants can include the New Jersey state-endangered Stylisma pickeringii var. pickeringii and the rare Pityopsis falcata, both typically found on bare xeric sand in full sun.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Five variants of paleodune sand barrens are recognized in New Jersey, but these are not mapped separately. Most occurrences of paleodune sand barrens contain a mosaic of multiple variants: (1) pitch pine-hudsonia-sedge-lichen paleodune (PD1) variant is closest to the central concept described for paleodune sand barrens (PD), with a very open pine canopy, less than 5% cover of midstory and shrub oaks, little or no heath cover, and ground cover characterized by Hudsonia ericoides, Hudsonia tomentosa, Minuartia caroliniana, Polygonella articulata, Carex pensylvanica, Cladonia spp., and bare sand, occasionally with Stylisma pickeringii var. pickeringii and Pityopsis falcata. (2) pitch pine-sedge paleodune (PD-PU7) variant has species composition similar to PD1 but differs by a dominant ground cover of Carex pensylvanica or other graminoids, similar to pitch pine-sedge uplands (PU7). (3) pitch pine-shrub oak-sedge paleodune (PD-Pb7) variant has species composition similar to PD1 but differs by the presence of shrub oak cover exceeding 5% for Quercus marilandica (or less commonly Quercus ilicifolia), and with slightly more heath cover, similar to pitch pine-shrub oak-sedge barrens (Pb7) and some successional pitch pine-shrub oak barrens (SPb). (4) pine upland paleodune (PD-PU0) variant has increased pine, heath, and litter cover after prolonged fire exclusion, causing reduced bare sand, herb, graminoid and lichen cover (i.e., becoming more similar to pitch pine-heath uplands, PU1). Where very prolonged exclusion of fire and disturbance on paleodunes has allowed succession to matrix forest types with closing canopy and shrub strata (e.g., Pb4/5, PU1, PO1, OP1, etc.), the paleodune substrate is no longer considered in the classification and nomenclature of the vegetation, although it should be considered during management planning to restore open paleodunes for enhanced biodiversity. (5) pitch pine lowland ecotone paleodune (PD-PLE) variant occurs at the edges of paleodunes adjacent to pitch pine lowlands and other wetlands, where small amounts of (facultative) wetland species establish on sandy paleodune soils with a slight water table influence in the subsoil, including Kalmia angustifolia, Lyonia mariana, Leiophyllum buxifolium, and Xerophyllum asphodeloides. Gaultheria procumbens may also become common here. Paleodunes often grade into a matrix of subhydric pitch pine lowland types, such as pitch pine lowland ecotone (PLE), pitch pine-sand myrtle lowland (PL7) and pitch pine-black huckleberry lowland (PL6).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: No Data Available
Dynamics: Paleodunes are inactive eolian sand dune deposits of Pleistocene (and Holocene?) age found scattered throughout sandy uplands of the New Jersey Pinelands, often clustered near floodplains, pitch pine lowlands and intermittent ponds where sandy eolian sediments were derived during cold, dry, treeless eras. Paleodunes are now stabilized by various pinelands vegetation types in various states of succession. In the central Pinelands, paleodunes support very open paleodune sand barren communities persisting for many decades after severe fire or disturbance, edaphically maintained to some degree by the deep xeric sands. Paleodune sand barrens support sparse tree and shrub cover with much bare sand, causing lighter fuel loads and a less intense and/or less frequent fire regime than surrounding pinelands vegetation types. Paleodune habitats are also somewhat fire protected by their proximity to wetlands. Despite the milder fire regime, trees and shrubs are slow to recolonize paleodunes after fire or disturbance because of the xeric nutrient-poor eolian sands, allowing early-successional ground cover species to establish and persist in the sandy openings for many decades. Pinelands forest types typical of the surrounding non-dune matrix are found on many paleodunes or parts of paleodunes, suggesting that severe fire or disturbance is needed to establish and maintain the open paleodune sand barrens type. Once established, many paleodune sand barrens persist without fire or disturbance for 50-100 years, and persist indefinitely with sporadic intense fires.
Environmental Description: No Data Available
Geographic Range: This association is limited to the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: NJ
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.950061
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 1 Forest & Woodland Class | C01 | 1 |
| Subclass | 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass | S15 | 1.B |
| Formation | 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F008 | 1.B.2 |
| Division | 1.B.2.Na Eastern North American Forest & Woodland Division | D008 | 1.B.2.Na |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.2.Na.9 Pitch Pine - oak spp. - American Holly North Atlantic Forest Macrogroup | M525 | 1.B.2.Na.9 |
| Group | 1.B.2.Na.9.b Black Oak - American Beech - Pitch Pine Coastal Plain Forest Group | G894 | 1.B.2.Na.9.b |
| Alliance | A3113 Southern Red Oak - Sand Hickory - Pine species Mid-Atlantic Paleodune Woodland Alliance | A3113 | 1.B.2.Na.9.b |
| Association | CEGL006767 (Pitch Pine, Shortleaf Pine) / Pine Barren Golden-heather / Cup Lichen species Paleodune Woodland | CEGL006767 | 1.B.2.Na.9.b |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Pitch Pine - Shrub Oak - Sedge Paleodune Barrens (Windisch 2010)
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
- Windisch, A. G. 2010. Rare ecological communities of the New Jersey Pinelands. Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, Department of Environmental Protection. Unpublished draft report submitted to the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. 66 pp.