Natural Communities of Virginia - Terrestrial System - Low-Elevation Dry and Dry - Mesic Forests and Woodlands: Mountain / Piedmont Acidic Woodlands

The Natural Communities of Virginia
Classification of Ecological Community Groups
SECOND APPROXIMATION (Version 2.2)

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 Piedmont, occupying somewhat heterogeneous habitats that are characterized by shallow, drought-prone, highly oligotrophic soils. Included are barren, acidic shale slopes and crests in the Ridge and Valley and northern Blue Ridge provinces; sandstone outcrops and pavements 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 or 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), blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), and bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia) 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.

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

	Central Appalachian Xeric Shale Woodland (Virginia Pine / Sparse Herbs Type) at the Gauging Station barren along Potts Creek, Alleghany County (George Washington and Jefferson National Forests). The ground is covered with huge mats of reindeer lichens (Cladonia spp.). Photo: Dean Walton.
	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.

REPRESENTATIVE COMMUNITY TYPES:
Although five community types have been classified in this group, all are, at best, moderately well 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.

Pinus echinata – Quercus montana – Carya glabra / Sorghastrum nutans – Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia – Solidago odora Woodland
Cumberland Mountains Shortleaf Pine / Indian-Grass Woodland
USNVC: = CEGL004445
Global/State Ranks: G2?/S1
Pinus virginiana – Quercus montana / Quercus ilicifolia / (Hieracium traillii) Woodland
Central Appalachian Xeric Shale Woodland (Virginia Pine / Sparse Herbs Type)
USNVC: = CEGL008525
Global/State Ranks: G3/S3
Pinus virginiana – Juniperus virginiana / Amelanchier stolonifera / Vaccinium pallidum Woodland
Riverside Bedrock Terrace Woodland
USNVC: no equivalent
Global/State Ranks: GNR/S1
Quercus montana / Quercus ilicifolia / Danthonia spicata – Solidago bicolor Woodland
Central Appalachian Xeric Shale Woodland (Chestnut Oak / Mixed Herbs Type)
USNVC: = CEGL008526 (PROVISIONAL)
Global/State Ranks: G3?/S3?
Endemic
Quercus montana – Pinus virginiana – Quercus (marilandica , stellata) / Dichanthelium depauperatum Woodland
Central Appalachian Xeric Sandstone Woodland
USNVC: = CEGL008540
Global/State Ranks: G2?/S2?
VA only?

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The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Community Groups SECOND APPROXIMATION (Version 2.2)

The Natural Communities of Virginia
Classification of Ecological Community Groups
SECOND APPROXIMATION (Version 2.2)