Ohio subset of Plant Communities of the Midwest ... - NatureServe

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Savannas and Non-Rock Barrens: Midwestern Deep Soil Oak Savannas Quercus macrocarpa - (Quercus alba, Quercus stellata) / Andropogon gerardii Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation Bur Oak - (White Oak, Post Oak) / Big Bluestem Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation Central Bur Oak Openings CEGL002159 DESCRIPTION: The vegetation is dominated by scattered trees with spreading canopies and a continuous herbaceous layer. This community has an average tree canopy between 10 and 60%, typically strongly dominated by Quercus macrocarpa. One study reports that densities of trees >25 cm dbh may have ranged from 40-75 stems/ha (McClain et al. 1998). Quercus alba is a common secondary species, whereas Carya ovata, Quercus imbricaria, and Quercus stellata may be present in low abundance. There may be shrubby areas within the community, but these were, at least historically, relatively sparse. Common species may include Corylus americana and Prunus serotina. The herbaceous vegetation is thought to be similar to that of mesic prairie, but few extant stands remain. Dominant grasses could include Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans (Nelson 1985, McClain et al. 1998). In Missouri, this community was found on gentle to moderate lower- to mid-slopes of hills and ridges. Examples on north- and east-facing slopes tended to be more mesic. In Illinois, these savannas occurred on the slopes or tops of moraine ridges and (rarely) as islands in wetland vegetation. Soils are moderately well-drained to well-drained and deep (40-100+ cm). The parent material is loess sometimes shallow, glacial till, gravel, or deeply weathered rock with no appreciable rock residuum (Nelson 1985, McClain et al. 1998). Fire and grazing are the two important natural disturbances that shaped this community. Fire appears to be the most important of these two, since woody growth release was not commonly noted until fire-suppression began in the early European-settlement periods, well after the period of massive reduction of bison and elk herds (Pruka 1994). Fire eliminates intolerant tree species. Fires in areas of oak opening were infrequent enough to allow certain species (Quercus alba, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus velutina, and occasionally Carya spp.) to reach a fire-resistant size. Oak openings may have been most typical on morainal ridges that were, at least in part, surrounded by wetlands that would only burn during dry years, thereby allowing tree establishment and persistence. Quercus alba, being less firetolerant than Quercus macrocarpa, is often limited to areas that supported less grass fuel (and hence less intense/frequent fires), and it is usually found on hillier topographies or mesic bottoms that are slightly less prone to fire. In flat, upland, mesic areas, with their higher fuel loads, only Quercus macrocarpa was able to persist, if at all. Before European settlement, fires were frequently and intentionally set by Native Americans to create conditions favorable for travel and for supporting large game. This may have led to larger expanses of savanna than would have occurred without human presence. It also probably encouraged savanna formation farther into the humid east than would have occurred without human-set fire (Pyne 1982). Fires in the central tallgrass prairie region could easily spread across an entire county, and some in east-central Illinois were severe enough to convert savannas to prairie (B. McClain pers. comm. 2000), perhaps forming what farther north in Wisconsin has been called "brush prairie" (Curtis 1959). Several authors have suggested that Native American fires were most often set in the fall (Swink and Wilhelm 1994, Chapman 1984, Schwegman and McClain 1985). Grimm (1984) noted that several early European settlers recorded summer burns ignited by lightning. COMMENTS: 3, MCS. This type represents the oak openings of the central tallgrass prairie ecoregion, but it is not entirely clear how this type is different from the more northern bur oak openings type, Quercus macrocarpa - (Quercus alba, Quercus velutina) / Andropogon gerardii Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation (CEGL002020). In eastcentral Illinois, stands appear similar to the more northern oak openings, whereas in west-central Illinois, the presence of species such as Quercus stellata become more common (B. McClain pers. comm. 2000). This community has been so widely extirpated in eastern Nebraska and southern Iowa that it is considered extirpated in those states. Most remnants are currently either called oak woodlands or small patches of tallgrass prairie. Inclusion of Ohio stands in this type needs review. CONSERVATION RANK: G1. This community type has virtually been eliminated. Most sites have been converted to cropland or pasture. Other remnants are now so overgrown that the tree canopy structure is very closed, and the ground layers are either very woody or dominated by exotics. Several remnant stands are described from east-central Illinois, some of which are undergoing restoration (McClain et al. 1998, LaGesse et al. 1998), but high-quality ground layers are very rare indeed. PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDWEST – 2001. APPENDIX: ASSOCIATION DESCRIPTIONS 559
DISTRIBUTION: This bur oak opening community is found in the central midwestern United States, historically extending from northern Missouri and eastern Nebraska east to disjunct outliers in western Ohio, but now reduced to small remnant examples across its range. USFS ECOREGIONS: 222Ab:C, 222Gb:CPP, 222He:CCC, 222Hf:CCC, 222If:CCC, 251Be:CCC, 251Ca:CC, 251Cb:CC, 251Cc:CCC, 251Cd:CC, 251Cf:CCC, 251Ch:CCC, 251Cj:CCC, 251Cm:CC, 251Co:CC, 251Cp:CC, 251Dd:CC, 251De:CC, 251Df:CCC CONSERVATION REGIONS: 36:C, 44:C, 45:C STATES: IA IL MO NE OH PROVINCES: MIDWEST HERITAGE SYNONYMY: IL dry-mesic savanna (N); mesic savanna (N) I MO dry-mesic savanna; mesic savanna I NE oak woodland OH oak savanna = OTHER SYNONYMY: USNVC HIERARCHY: QUERCUS MACROCARPA - (QUERCUS ALBA) WOODED HERBACEOUS ALLIANCE (V.A.6.N.c) PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDWEST – 2001. APPENDIX: ASSOCIATION DESCRIPTIONS 560
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PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDWEST CL
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CONTENTS APPENDIX: PLANT COMMUNITY
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OVERVIEW APPENDIX: PLANT COMMUNITY
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− The USFS (U.S. Forest Service)
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Box 2. State Natural Heritage progr
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INDEX TO ASSOCIATIONS BY ECOLOGICAL
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2.3.4.4. Interior Highlands Shale G
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Acid Peatlands: Northern Shrub/Gram
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Rich Peat Fens: Northeastern Rich F
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Rich Peat Fens: Midwestern Prairie
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Seeps: Midwestern Seepage Meadows S
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Open and Emergent Marshes: Eastern
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Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
* Nonstandard type (needs review) G
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Open and Emergent Marshes: Great La
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Wet Prairies and Wet Meadows: Great
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Wet Prairies and Wet Meadows: Midwe
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Wet Prairies and Wet Meadows: Midwe
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Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Nort
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Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Midw
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Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55: Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Midw
Page 60 and 61: Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Appa
Page 62 and 63: Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Sout
Page 64 and 65: Wooded Swamps and Floodplains: Sout
Page 66 and 67: Shoreline Sand/Mud Strands, Beaches
Page 68 and 69: Sphagnum wulfianum, Sphagnum warnst
Page 70 and 71: Shoreline Sand/Mud Strands, Beaches
Page 72 and 73: Rocky Shores: Great Lakes Alkaline
Page 74 and 75: Rocky Shores: Appalachian Highlands
Page 76 and 77: Rocky Uplands (Glades, Rock Barrens
Page 78 and 79: DISTRIBUTION: This limestone glade
Page 80 and 81: DISTRIBUTION: This graminoid shale
Page 82 and 83: Cliffs, Talus, Buttes and Badlands:
Page 88 and 89: Forests and Woodlands: Midwestern D
Page 90 and 91: Forests and Woodlands: Midwestern D
Page 92 and 93: Forests and Woodlands: Midwestern M
Page 94 and 95: Forests and Woodlands: Appalachian
Page 102 and 103: Forests and Woodlands: Interior Hig
Page 106 and 107: Savannas and Non-Rock Barrens: Midw
Page 108 and 109: Prairies/Grasslands: Midwestern San
Page 110 and 111: Prairies/Grasslands: Midwestern Thi
Page 112 and 113: Prairies/Grasslands: Midwestern Dee
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Ohio subset of Plant Communities of the Midwest ... - NatureServe

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