Southern Appalachian Acidic Mixed Hardwood Forest - Ecological Community of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL008558: Acer rubrum var. rubrum - Betula (alleghaniensis, lenta) - Magnolia fraseri / (Rhododendron maximum, Kalmia latifolia) Forest

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: Betula lenta or Betula alleghaniensis

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: Kalmia latifolia and Rhododendron maximum

Short Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herbs (field): N/A

Nonvascular: N/A

Click photo to enlarge.
Photo provided by NatureServe.

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

This association includes sub-mesic potentially fire-exposed or heavily logged mid and upper slopes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and possibly adjacent areas (Cherokee National Forest?).
Canopy dominance may be shared by a number of species including Acer rubrum var. rubrum, Magnolia fraseri, ~~Halesia carolina~~, Nyssa sylvatica, Betula alleghaniensis, Betula lenta, Oxydendrum arboreum, and Tsuga canadensis, but the community's most distinctive character is the relative lack of dominance by any one species and the lack of oak species in the canopy.
- This community may occasionally be dominated by Betula lenta or Betula alleghaniensis with an extremely heavy understory of Rhododendron maximum and may intergrade with acid cove forest further downslope.
The understory shrub layer is composed of a combination of Kalmia latifolia and Rhododendron maximum, though the cover is not consistently 100%.
- The proportion of Kalmia to Rhododendron varies widely through this association, with more xeric sites having a higher concentration of Kalmia latifolia than Rhododendron maximum.

In addition, drier versions of this association tend to contain abundant Sassafras albidum in the understory, whereas the more mesic versions have lower densities of Sassafras albidum.

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

Same as global.

DISTRIBUTION

North America:

This association is documented only from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but it may occur throughout the middle to higher elevation exposed slopes of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and possibly also into adjacent parts of Virginia and West Virginia.

Click map to enlarge.
Potential	Occurs

Click map to view North American distribution.

In the Park:

This community exists throughout the park (possibly every quadrangle with the appropriate elevation ranges) but has yet to be found outside of the park.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

Global Conservation Status Rank: GNA (modified/managed) (Last reviewed: 10 09 2001).
Ranked as modified due to the heavy effects logging had on most of these stands over the past 100 years.
- Stands of this type appear to have been modified by a combination of logging, chestnut death, and fire suppression.
- These are mature stands in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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:

R. White

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

Charles Wilder.

REFERENCES

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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