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NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL007339: Platanus occidentalis - Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Quercus imbricaria Forest

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: Platanus occidentalis, Acer negundo, Acer rubrum var. trilobum, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Quercus imbricaria

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Short Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herbs (field): Boehmeria cylindrica, Verbesina alternifolia, Phacelia purshii, Packera aurea, Carex intumescens, Iris spp., and Carex spp.

Nonvascular: N/A

 Habitat Image

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

DISTRIBUTION

North America:
  • This association may be restricted to the Southern Blue Ridge, but its full range is not known and its relationship to other types is under review.
Click map to enlarge.
Potential Occurs
Click map to view North American distribution.
 
In the Park:
  • This community was sampled along a stretch of Abrams Creek on the Tennessee side of the park and along a short stretch of the Oconaluftee River on the North Carolina side of the park.
    • These are most likely the only two occurrences of this community known inside the park (and the only two occurrences of this community known at this time in the U.S.).
Click here for GRSMNP Range Map

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

  • Global Conservation Status Rank: G2Q (Last reviewed: 10 24 2002).

  • This community occurs on broad flats along streams, within a landscape of pastures and fields.
    • It has been described from a protected example in Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Cades Cove, a limestone window at 1,700 feet elevation and from another protected but impacted example near Cherokee, NC.
    • It is impacted by cattle grazing.
    • It is distinct from montane alluvial forests found at higher elevations and on acid substrates in the Blue Ridge, but may be similar to alluvial vegetation in the Ridge and Valley and farther west.
    • The "Q" on the Grank indicates that there are issues about the taxonomic distinctiveness of this type, and that its merger with another type would make it less rare.
    • Grank was changed from G3G4 to G2G3 to indicate that this community may be more restricted than originally thought.
    • It may be a distinct type restricted to the Southern Blue Ridge region, or it may be sufficiently related to other associations to be merged with more common and widespread types.
    • More information is needed on it and its relationship to similar types.

Park Status:

Picking, digging, or otherwise damaging plants is prohibited in the Park. Collection is allowed only by special permit for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Field Work:

NatureServe

Supporting Institutions:

N/A

Forest Association Described By:

K.D. Patterson, MOD. R. White

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

Charles Wilder.

REFERENCES

Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.

NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

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