Classification of Vegetation Communities of Maryland: First Iteration

I. FOREST
I.B.2.N.d. Temporarily flooded cold-deciduous forest
I.B.2.N.d.27. ACER SACCHARUM - CARYA CORDIFORMIS TEMPORARILY FLOODED FOREST ALLIANCE
Sugar Maple - Bitternut Hickory Temporarily Flooded Forest Alliance

Concept: Forests in this alliance are dominated by Acer saccharum and Carya cordiformis. The subcanopy may contain a variety of species including Ulmus americana, Ulmus rubra, Morus rubra, and Prunus serotina var. serotina. The shrub layer is often quite dense with Asimina triloba, Toxicodendron radicans, and Vitis spp. dominating, but Lindera benzoin, Aralia spinosa, Corylus americana, and Cornus florida are also common. Where dense shrubs exist, light penetrating to the forest floor is diminished, and herbaceous density is reduced. Campanulastrum americanum and Fleischmannia incarnata (= Eupatorium incarnatum) are common herbs. Stands of this alliance occur on level to gently sloping ridges, terraces, natural levees, or higher elevations which border river floodplains or streams. They are found on moist, well-drained to moderately drained soils, primarily on northern aspects. In general, soils are medium-textured silt and colluvial, deep, clay loams derived mainly from sandstone and shales. Mesic moisture conditions are maintained throughout most of the growing season, but some flooding does occur. Damage from flooding during periods of heavy precipitation, wind, or storms can have dramatic effects on species composition. Although stands in this alliance tend to be late successional floodplain forest, the stresses of seasonal flooding create canopy openings which are quickly colonized by early and mid-successional species.

Range: This alliance is found in southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine.

States/Provinces: AR CT IL IN? KY MA MD ME MO NB NH NJ NY OH? OK TN VT

TNC Ecoregions: 32:?, 36:C, 38:C, 39:C, 42:C, 43:C, 44:C, 45:C, 60:C, 61:C, 62:C, 63:C, 64:C

USFS Ecoregions: 212Aa:CPP, 212Ab:CPP, 212Ba:CCC, 212Bb:CCC, 212Ca:CPP, 212Cb:CPP, 212Da:CCC, 212Dc:CCP, 212Ea:CPP, 212Eb:CPP, 212Ec:CPP, 212Ed:CP?, 212Fa:CCP, 212Fb:CCP, 212Fc:CCP, 212Ga:CPP, 212Gb:CPP, 221Aa:CC?, 221Ad:CCP, 221Ae:CCP, 221Af:CCP, 221Ag:CCP, 221Ah:CC?, 221Ai:CCP, 221Aj:CC?, 221Ak:CCC, 221Al:CCP, 221Ba:CCP, 221Bb:CCP, 221Bc:CCP, 221Bd:CCP, 221Db:CPP, 221Ea:CPP, 221Eb:CPP, 221Fa:CPP, 222Aa:CCC, 222Af:CCC, 222Ag:CCC, 222Aj:CCP, 222Ak:CCP, 222Al:CCC, 222An:CCC, 222Ao:CCP, 222Aq:CCP, 222Ca:CP?, 222Cb:CP?, 222Ch:CP?, 222Dh:CCC, 222Di:CCC, 222Gb:CCC, 222Hb:CCC, 222Ia:CPP, 222Ib:CPP, 222Ic:CPP, 222Id:CPP, 222Ie:CPP, 222If:CPP, 231Ae:PPP, 231Ak:PPP, 231Al:PPP, 231An:PPP, 231Ap:PPP, 232Ad:PPP, 232Br:PPP, 251Cj:CCC, M212Ac:CCC, M212Ad:CCC, M212Ae:CCC, M212Af:CCC, M212Ag:CCC, M212Ba:CCC, M212Bb:CCP, M212Bc:CCC, M212Ca:CCC, M212Cc:CCP, M212Cd:CCC, M212Da:CPP, M212Db:CPP, M212Dc:CPP, M212Ea:CP?, M212Eb:CPP, M212Fa:CP?, M212Fb:CPP, M221Aa:PPP, M221Ab:PPP, M221Bb:PPP, M221Bd:PPP, M221Be:PPP, M221Bf:PP?, M221Ca:PPP, M221Cb:PPP, M221Cd:PP?, M221Da:P??, M222:C, M231Aa:CCC, M231Ab:CCC, M231Ac:CCC

Federal Lands: NPS (Mammoth Cave); TVA (Shawnee Steam Plant, West Kentucky)

Synonymy: Sugar Maple: 27, in part (Eyre 1980)

References: Eyre 1980, Faber-Langendoen et al. 1996, Nelson 1985, Steyermark 1940

Authors: D.J. ALLARD/D. FABER-LANG, MP, East Identifier: A.302

Concept: These rich floodplain forests are found on slightly elevated alluvial terraces of larger rivers throughout the glaciated Northeast. The setting is a raised river terrace; however, this forest may occur very close to the riverbank if the water channel is well entrenched, and may even be on sloping banks along some river reaches. The alluvial soils are coarse and less regularly inundated than the soils supporting silver maple floodplain forests. Many of our examples occur on circumneutral to slightly calcareous soils. The canopy is closed to somewhat open, and unlike lower-elevation floodplain forests, a subcanopy is often present. Shrubs are occasional, but do not form high cover. The herb layer is well-developed and seasonally variable, with spring ephemerals giving way to taller ferns, graminoids, and forbs. Bryoids are very minor. The canopy dominants can vary from site to site, but are usually some combination of Acer saccharum, Tilia americana, Quercus rubra, Ulmus americana, Fraxinus americana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Prunus serotina. Minor canopy associates include Acer saccharinum, Juglans cinerea, Fraxinus nigra, and Acer rubrum. Shrubs include Corylus americana, Viburnum lentago, and Prunus virginiana; vines such as Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus spp., or Vitis spp. may be locally common. The herb layer usually features Matteuccia struthiopteris and a mixture of other ferns, forbs, and graminoids. Characteristic species include Ageratina altissima (= Eupatorium rugosum), Allium tricoccum, Allium canadense, Athyrium filix-femina, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Carex gracillima, Carex intumescens, Carex sprengelii, Deparia acrostichoides, Elymus virginicus, Elymus riparius, Elymus wiegandii (= Elymus canadensis var. wiegandii), Onoclea sensibilis, Sanguinaria canadensis, Solidago flexicaulis, Solidago rugosa, and Solidago gigantea. Exotic species, such as Lysimachia nummularia, Glechoma hederacea, and Hesperis matronalis, may be abundant, especially in disturbed areas. These terrace forests are distinguished from lower-floodplain forests by the reduced importance of Acer saccharinum; they differ from enriched northern hardwood forests, e.g., Acer saccharum - Fraxinus americana - Tilia americana / Acer spicatum / Allium tricoccum - Caulophyllum thalictroides Forest (CEGL005008), in their alluvial soils and flooding regime; also, Matteuccia struthiopteris is generally not found in enriched northern hardwood forests.

Comments: Drastically reduced from original extent, as most make excellent fertile farmland. Originally probably a large patch type; now small patch.

States/Provinces: CT:S?, MA:S2, MD:S?, ME:S2, NB:S?, NH:S?, NJ:S2S3, NY:S3, VT:S2

TNC Ecoregions: 60:C, 61:C, 63:C, 64:C

USFS Ecoregions: 212Aa:CPP, 212Ab:CPP, 212Ba:CCC, 212Bb:CCC, 212Ca:CPP, 212Da:CCC, 212Fa:CCP, 212Fb:CCP, 212Fc:CCP, 221Ak:CCC, 221Bd:CCP, 221D:C?, M212Ae:CCC, M212Af:CCC, M212Ag:CCC, M212Ba:CCC, M212Ca:CCC, M212Cd:CCC

Synonymy: Sugar Maple - Basswood: 26 (Eyre 1980) B, Riverine Floodplain Forest (Thompson 1996), Floodplain Forest (Breden 1989) B, Riverine floodplain forest: terraces (NAP pers. comm. 1998), SNE Riverside/streamside mesic, deciduous forest (Rawinski 1984), Palustrine Broad-leaved Deciduous Forested Wetland, Seasonally Flooded (PFO1C) (Cowardin et al. 1979), Acer saccharum-Acer saccharinum-Fraxinus americana variant, Type 5 (Sperduto and Crowley 2002a)

References: Breden 1989, Breden et al. 2001, Cowardin et al. 1979, Edinger et al. 2002, Eyre 1980, Gawler 2002, Metzler and Barrett 2001, NAP pers. comm. 1998, Rawinski 1984, Sperduto 2000b, Sperduto and Crowley 2002a, Swain and Kearsley 2001, Thompson 1996, Thompson and Sorensen 2000

Authors: S.C. Gawler, ECS Confidence: 2 Identifier: CEGL006114

- Maryland Vegetation Classification Subset Report I.B. Deciduous forest

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