Classification of Vegetation Communities of Maryland: First Iteration

I. FOREST
I.C.3.N.a. Mixed needle-leaved evergreen - cold-deciduous forest
I.C.3.N.a.4. PICEA RUBENS - BETULA ALLEGHANIENSIS FOREST ALLIANCE
Red Spruce - Yellow Birch Forest Alliance

Concept: Forests with mixed deciduous/evergreen canopies, dominated by Picea rubens and Betula alleghaniensis, occurring from the maritime provinces of Canada, through northern New England and eastern New York, south to the High Alleghenies, and high elevations in the northern Ridge and Valley and Southern Blue Ridge. This alliance includes forests transitional between northern hardwoods and spruce - fir forests, as well as successional forests resulting from the death of Abies fraseri due to the Balsam Woolly Adelgid. Picea rubens is usually the most abundant conifer, with lesser amounts of Abies balsamea, in the north, and Abies fraseri, in the southern portion of the range. Betula alleghaniensis is usually the most abundant deciduous tree, although other deciduous species, such as Fagus grandifolia and, in the southern Appalachians, Aesculus flava, can be prominent constituents. Associated species vary with geography, but include Acer spicatum, Acer pensylvanicum, Acer saccharum, Oclemena acuminata (= Aster acuminatus), Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris carthusiana (= Dryopteris spinulosa), Dryopteris intermedia, Dryopteris campyloptera, Ilex montana, Menziesia pilosa, Oxalis montana, Rugelia nudicaulis, Rhododendron catawbiense, Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa (= Sambucus racemosa var. pubens), Solidago glomerata, Trillium undulatum, Vaccinium erythrocarpum, and Viburnum lantanoides (= Viburnum alnifolium). Forests of this alliance generally occur on midslopes, with soils ranging from somewhat poorly drained to well-drained. Forests of this alliance in the White Mountains and Green Mountains in New England were noted to occur on soils derived from compact till and ablational till consisting of metamorphic schist and gneiss. Forests in this alliance tend to be on moister sites than deciduous forests dominated by northern hardwood species.

Range: This alliance is found in North Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania (?), Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

States/Provinces: MA MD ME NB NC NH NS NY PA? QC? TN VA? VT WV

TNC Ecoregions: 51:C, 59:C, 60:C, 61:C, 63:C, 64:C

USFS Ecoregions: 212Cb:CCC, 212Eb:CCC, 212Ed:CCC, 221Ah:CCC, 221Al:CCC, 221Bc:CCC, 222Ob:CCC, 232C:CC, M212Ad:CCC, M212Ae:CCC, M212Af:CCC, M212Ba:CCC, M212Bc:CCC, M212Bd:CCC, M212Ca:CCC, M212Cb:CCC, M212Cc:CCC, M212Cd:CCC, M212Da:CCC, M212Db:CCC, M212Dc:CCC, M212Dd:CCC, M212De:CCC, M212Df:CCC, M212Ea:CCC, M212Fa:CCC, M212Fb:CCC, M221Aa:CCC, M221Ba:CCC, M221Bc:CCC, M221Cb:CP?, M221Dc:CCC, M221Dd:CCC

Federal Lands: NPS (Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains); USFS (Cherokee?, Jefferson?, Nantahala?, Pisgah)

Synonymy: Red Spruce--Fraser Fir Forest, in part (Schafale and Weakley 1990); Red Spruce - Yellow Birch: 30, in part (Eyre 1980); Spruce - Fir - Northern Hardwoods Forest (Swain and Kearsley 2001)

References: Eyre 1980, Fincher 1991, Golden 1974, Golden 1981, Schafale and Weakley 1990, Swain and Kearsley 2001

Authors: D.J. ALLARD, RW, East Identifier: A.384

Concept: Transitional hardwood - spruce forest of Central Appalachians (CAP). These are closed-canopy mixed forests dominated by Picea rubens and Betula alleghaniensis. Associates include Prunus serotina, Fagus grandifolia, Acer spicatum, Acer pensylvanicum, Acer saccharum. The variable shrub layer may contain Rhododendron maximum, Sambucus racemosa, Ilex montana, Vaccinium erythrocarpum, Viburnum lantanoides. The variable herb layer includes Oclemena acuminata (= Aster acuminatus), Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris carthusiana (= Dryopteris spinulosa), Dryopteris intermedia, Dryopteris campyloptera, Menziesia pilosa, Oxalis montana, Trillium undulatum. These communities are found on midslopes with well-drained to somewhat poorly drained acidic soils. This type includes forests transitional between northern hardwoods and spruce-fir forests.

States/Provinces: MD:S?, PA?, WV:S?

TNC Ecoregions: 59:C

USFS Ecoregions: M221Ba:CCC, M221Bc:CCC

Synonymy: Red spruce-yellow birch-black cherry forest (CAP pers. comm. 1998)

References: CAP pers. comm. 1998

Authors: ECS Confidence: 3 Identifier: CEGL006029

- Maryland Vegetation Classification Subset Report I.C. Mixed evergreen-deciduous forest

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