Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment Shortleaf Pine - Oak Forest - Ecological Community of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL007493: Pinus echinata - Quercus (prinus, falcata) / Oxydendrum arboreum / Vaccinium pallidum Forest

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: Pinus echinata

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herbs (field): N/A

Nonvascular: N/A

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

This association includes crests of low-elevation slopes and ridges on the fringes of the Southern Blue Ridge, extending into the southern Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau, where Pinus echinata and dry-site oaks characteristic of lower elevations codominate in association with other Appalachian flora.
- This forest is known from the southern Blue Ridge Escarpment of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, particularly in the Blue Ridge/Piedmont transition, where it occurs on exposed, rocky ridges and upper, convex slopes, at elevations at or below 670 m (2,200 feet).
- It also extends into the southern Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau, but more information is needed to characterize the variation in that part of the range.
- This community may occur in slightly more protected situations in the hotter Piedmont ecoregion.
Canopies are codominated by Pinus echinata and combinations of dry-site oaks that may include Quercus falcata, Quercus coccinea, Quercus prinus, Quercus stellata, and Quercus velutina.
On rocky sites, canopies may be slightly stunted.
Mid-canopy trees can be scattered or form a well-developed subcanopy.
- Common subcanopy trees can include Oxydendrum arboreum, Ilex opaca, Cornus florida, Quercus marilandica, Quercus stellata, and Carya pallida.
The shrub stratum varies in composition and density but is typically dominated by Vaccinium pallidum.
- Other shrubs may include Vaccinium stamineum, Gaylussacia ursina, Gaylussacia baccata, Rhododendron calendulaceum, Rhododendron minus, Castanea pumila, and Kalmia latifolia.
- On some sites Symplocos tinctoria can be important.
- Vitis rotundifolia and Smilax glauca are common vines.
The herb stratum is poorly developed with scattered species such as Chimaphila maculata, Iris verna, Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum, Goodyera pubescens, Hexastylis arifolia, Coreopsis major, Tipularia discolor, Schizachyrium scoparium, Pityopsis graminifolia, Tephrosia virginiana, Silphium compositum, Dichanthelium spp., and Galax urceolata.

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

N/A

DISTRIBUTION

North America:
This association occurs in the southern fringes of the Southern Blue Ridge, extending into the southern Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau. It could possibly range into the upper Piedmont.

In the Park:
N/A

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

Global Conservation Status Rank: G3G4 (Last reviewed: 01 12 2000).
This community occurs within a restricted geographic range and is uncommon within this range.
- Because this community is poorly known and essentially uninventoried throughout its range, there remain questions regarding its taxonomic distinctiveness and geographic extent.
- Further inventory and more detailed field information may expand the current range and concept of this type.

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:

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

to be provided

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.

Evans, M. 1991. Kentucky ecological communities. Draft report to the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission. 19 pp.

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

Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. 2002. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Schafale, M. 1998b. Fourth approximation guide. High mountain communities. March 1998 draft. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.

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

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