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The Natural Communities of Virginia
Classification of Ecological Community Groups
SECOND APPROXIMATION (Version 2.5)

Information current as of February, 2012

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Coastal Plain / Piedmont Floodplain Forests
This is a diverse group of temporarily flooded to briefly seasonally flooded forests occupying relatively well-drained floodplains and bottomland terraces of the Coastal Plain and outer Piedmont. Characteristic tree species vary with stream order, soil type, flooding regime, and successional status. High terraces with infrequent floodplain along brownwater rivers (e.g., the Nottoway) of southeastern Virginia support swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda), and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). In the same drainages, low terraces with some microtopographic heterogeneity support forests of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), water hickory (Carya aquatica), overcup oak (Quercus lyrata), and laurel oak, often with a minor component of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). Deciduous holly (Ilex decidua), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana ssp. caroliniana and ssp. virginiana), and sedges (especially Carex grayi, Carex typhina, and Carex radiata) are common in both types, while river birch (Betula nigra) and red maple (Acer rubrum) are often abundant in disturbed, cut-over stands.

On first bottoms and sandy levees of inner Coastal Plain and southern Piedmont rivers, stands lack a significant oak component and contain mixed overstories of sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), hackberries (Celtis occidentalis and Celtis laevigata), American elm (Ulmus americana), and green ash. A rich floodplain forest containing American beech (Fagus grandifolia), bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis), Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii), swamp chestnut oak, and a diverse assortment of nutrient-demanding herbs has been documented on floodplains of the Pamunkey, Mattaponi, and Rappahannock Rivers in east-central Virginia. On small stream bottoms, where alluvial landforms and habitat conditions occur at very small scales, trees typical of both levees and swamps may occur in mixed stands. On well-drained small stream bottoms, tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) is often important. Understory and herbaceous composition is highly variable with geography and site conditions.

References: Crouch (1990), Fleming (2002a), Fleming and Moorhead (1998), Frost and Musselman (1987), Glascock and Ware (1979), McCoy and Fleming (2000), Parker and Wyatt (1975), Parsons and Ware (1982), Rheinhardt et al . (2000), Walton et al. (2001).

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

	Drawn-down, shortly seasonally flooded swamp forest on a low terrace along the Nottoway river in Southampton County. The overstory is dominated by overcup oak (Quercus lyrata), water hickory (Carya aquatica), and some bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), while catchfly cutgrass (Leersia lenticularis) and cypress-swamp sedge (Carex joorii) carpet the forest floor. Photo: Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.
	Fern-rich floodplain forest along a tributary of Hatcher Run near Five Forks, Dinwiddie County (Petersburg National Battlefield). The overstory dominant is sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and the prevalent ferns are southern lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina var. asplenioides) and New York fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis). Photo: Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.
	Small-stream floodplain forest along Beaverdam Creek in York County (Colonial National Historical Park). Dominant trees include sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Photo: Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.
	Dense herb layer of ferns and sedges under red maple (Acer rubrum) in a floodplain forest along North Wilderness Run, Orange County (Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park). Photo: Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.
	Lush herbaceous growth of wood reedgrass (Cinna arundinacea), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), halberd-leaf tearthumb (Polygonum arifolium), and other species in a floodplain forest along the headwaters of Quantico Creek, Prince William Forest Park, Prince William County. Photo: Gary P. Fleming / © DCR Natural Heritage.

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REPRESENTATIVE COMMUNITY TYPES:
Good examples of this group are a continuing priority for data collection since this vegetation and its habitats are complex, variable, often disturbed, and difficult to interpret. Data from approximately 41 plots have been collected from several landscapes and additional discrete localities in eastern Virginia (map). The classification of several community types listed below resulted from a regional analysis of 154 Maryland and Virginia floodplain plots. Many questions concerning the in-state distributions of these units and their relationship to associations currently in the USNVC remain to be answered. Click on any highlighted CEGL code below to view the global USNVC description provided by NatureServe Explorer.

• Liquidambar styraciflua - Liriodendron tulipifera / Lindera benzoin / Arisaema triphyllum Forest
  Coastal Plain / Piedmont Small-Stream Floodplain Forest
  USNVC: = CEGL004418
  Global/State Ranks: G4/S4
  
  
• Platanus occidentalis - Liquidambar styraciflua / Carpinus caroliniana - Asimina triloba Forest
  Coastal Plain / Piedmont Large-Stream Floodplain Forest
  USNVC: = CEGL007340
  Global/State Ranks: G5/S4?
  
  
• Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Ulmus americana / Carpinus caroliniana / Boehmeria cylindrica Forest
  Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest (Brownwater Low Terrace Type)
  USNVC: = CEGL007806
  Global/State Ranks: G4?/SU
  
  
• Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Quercus laurifolia - Quercus lyrata - Carya aquatica Forest
  Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest (Brownwater Levee Type)
  USNVC: = CEGL004695
  Global/State Ranks: G3G4/S3?
  
  
• Quercus laurifolia - Quercus michauxii - Liquidambar styraciflua / Carpinus caroliniana Forest
  Coastal Plain Floodplain Forest (Brownwater High Terrace Type)
  USNVC: = CEGL004678
  Global/State Ranks: G3G4/S3?
  
  
• Fagus grandifolia - Carya cordiformis - (Quercus michauxii, Quercus shumardii) / Ilex opaca / Podophyllum peltatum Forest
  Northern Coastal Plain Beech - Mixed Hardwood Floodplain Forest
  USNVC: = CEGL006493
  Global/State Ranks: GNR/S1?
  

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