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

Cliffs, Talus, Buttes and Badlands: Eastern Eroding Bluffs
Small Eroding Bluffs Midwestern Sparse Vegetation
Small Eroding Bluffs Midwestern Sparse Vegetation
Midwestern Small Eroding Bluffs
CEGL002315
DESCRIPTION: The vegetation is sparse. Species composition is quite variable, and there may be little floristic
coherence to the type. Species include, in Indiana, Danthonia spicata, Heuchera spp., Hydrangea arborescens,
Solidago nemoralis; in Illinois, Danthonia spicata, Solidago nemoralis, Taenidia integerrima; and in Missouri (at least
in seepage areas at the toeslope), Adiantum pedatum, Arisaema triphyllum (= Arisaema atrorubens), Equisetum
arvense, Equisetum hyemale, and Impatiens capensis (White and Madany 1978, Homoya et al. 1985, Nelson 1985).
Sites are found in deeply cut ravines or valleys, especially adjacent to streams or rivers. Stands consist of vertical
exposures of eroded unconsolidated material (glacial drift, loess), or weak rock (shale). Soils are absent or confined
to the crests of the bluff. Moisture is variable, but may be high in seepage areas (White and Madany 1978, Homoya
et al. 1985, Nelson 1985).
COMMENTS: 3, MCS. The term bluff, as opposed to cliff, is used to refer to unconsolidated or poorly consolidated
material. This type may need to be sampled more carefully based on substrate, since species composition on slopes
comprised of eroding shales may be expected to be quite different from loess. In Missouri the type is really a
slumpage feature and many of the plants occur at the toeslope in seepage areas. Its status as a natural ecological
community is questionable (M. Leahy pers. comm. 1999).
CONSERVATION RANK: G.
DISTRIBUTION: This sparsely vegetated bluff community is found in restricted places throughout the midwestern
United States and adjacent Canada, ranging from Ontario and possibly Ohio westward to Illinois and Missouri.
USFS ECOREGIONS: 212Oa:CCC, 222Em:CCC, 222Fe:CCC, 222Hb:CCC, 222Hf:CCC, 222Kg:CCC, 251Cd:CC, 251Cj:CCC,
251Ea:CCC
CONSERVATION REGIONS: 36:C, 37:C, 44:C, 45:C, 48:C
STATES: IL IN MI MO OH PROVINCES: ON
MIDWEST HERITAGE SYNONYMY: IL eroding bluff =
IN eroding cliff =
MI no state equivalent
MO eroding cliff =
OH no state equivalent
OTHER SYNONYMY:
USNVC HIERARCHY: SMALL ERODING BLUFFS SPARSE VEGETATION ALLIANCE (VII.C.3.N.b)
PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDWEST – 2001. APPENDIX: ASSOCIATION DESCRIPTIONS
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