Department of Conservation and Recreation

THE NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF VIRGINIA
CLASSIFICATION OF ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY GROUPS

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Second Approximation (Version 2.5)
Information current as of February, 2012

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Mountain / Piedmont Acidic Woodlands

Coniferous , mixed, or less commonly deciduous woodlands of xeric, edaphically stressful habitats constitute this ecological group. These woodlands are uncommon but are found in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States, as well as in the southern Appalachians and westward in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. Stands are scattered throughout the Virginia mountains and inner Piedmont, occupying somewhat heterogeneous habitats that are characterized by rock outcrops and shallow, drought-prone, highly oligotrophic soils. Included are outcrops and pavements of sandstone and other acidic rocks in the northern Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Mountains; xeric, low-elevation terrain formed on massive alluvial fans along the western foot of the Blue Ridge; and massive bedrock terraces flanking the Potomac River in the fall zone west of Washington, D.C.

Most expressions of the group in Virginia could be characterized as pine-oak woodlands. Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), pitch pine (Pinus rigida), and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) are each co-dominant in one or more classified types. Chestnut oak (Quercus montana, = Quercus prinus), post oak (Quercus stellata), and blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica) are representative oak components. In some cases, Montane Acidic Woodlands are floristically similar to Pine-Oak/Heath Woodlands, but are maintained primarily by drought stresses associated with outcrop environments or extremely dry soils rather than by fire. They also tend to have a sparser representation of heath shrubs and a more diverse herb layer, with a larger component of graminoids such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), poverty oat-grass (Danthonia spicata), and starved panic grass (Dichanthelium depauperatum). Most of the community types in this group are considered state- or globally rare, but their relationships to vegetation on a regional scale needs further investigation.

References: Fleming (2007), Fleming et al. (2007).

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Click on the images below to open a larger image in a separate window.

	Mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia), bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), and wavy hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa) in an acidic woodland opening at Miller's Head, Page County (Shenandoah National Park). This is the only known Virginia site for the creeping ericad bearberry, a boreal disjunct. Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.
	Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana), blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), and Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) in a Central Appalachian xeric sandstone woodland. James River Face Wilderness, Rockbridge County (George Washington and Jefferson National Forests). Photo: Tom Rawinski.
	Sparse woodland of Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana) and lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum) on xeric rimrock of bedrock terraces along the Potomac River downstream from Great Falls, Fairfax County. Periodic catastrophic floods scour these terraces and tend to eliminate or reduce hardwood competitors. Photo: Karen D. Patterson / © DCR Natural Heritage.

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REPRESENTATIVE COMMUNITY TYPES:
This group is represented by 40 plot samples from western Virginia (map). Although four community types have been classified through several regional analyses, only two are adequately supported by quantitative data. This group requires more inventory and plot-sampling across the full geographic range in Virginia. Click on any highlighted CEGL code below to view the global USNVC description provided by NatureServe Explorer.

• Quercus montana - Pinus virginiana - (Pinus pungens) / Schizachyrium scoparium - Dichanthelium depauperatum Woodland
  Central Appalachian Xeric Chestnut Oak - Virginia Pine Woodland
  USNVC: = CEGL008540
  Global/State Ranks: G3?/S3
  
  
• Pinus rigida - Quercus montana / Gaylussacia baccata / Carex pensylvanica Woodland
  Appalachian Pitch Pine Pavement Woodland
  USNVC: = CEGL004821
  Global/State Ranks: GNR/S2?
  
  
• Pinus echinata - Quercus montana - Carya alba / Sorghastrum nutans - Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia - Solidago odora Woodland
  Cumberland Mountains Shortleaf Pine Woodland
  USNVC: = CEGL004445
  Global/State Ranks: G2?/S1
  
  
• Pinus virginiana - Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana - Quercus stellata / Amelanchier stolonifera / Danthonia spicata / Leucobryum glaucum Woodland
  Riverside Bedrock Terrace Woodland
  USNVC: = CEGL008449
  Global/State Ranks: G1/S1
  

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