Sumter National Forest Final Report - NatureServe

• Pinus echinata - Quercus stellata - Quercus prinus - Carya glabra / (Danthonia spicata, Piptochaetium avenaceum) Forest(CEGL007500) -- is a more open, grassy variant.• Quercus alba - Quercus falcata / Vaccinium (arboreum, hirsutum, pallidum) Forest (CEGL008567) -- is a related, primarilydeciduous type of the Ridge and Valley and parts of the Southern Blue Ridge adjacent to the Ridge and Valley.• Quercus falcata - Quercus alba - Carya alba / Oxydendrum arboreum / Vaccinium stamineum Forest (CEGL007244) -- is arelated, primarily deciduous type with representation in the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley but not in the Blue Ridge.Related Concepts: No informationClassification Comments: This forest has an overall more mesophytic species composition and occurs on deeper soil or on moreprotected sites than the more extreme shortleaf pine - oak forest, Pinus echinata - Quercus (prinus, falcata) / Oxydendrum arboreum /Vaccinium pallidum Forest (CEGL007493). In the Daniel Boone National Forest (Kentucky) this vegetation is important as part of apine-oak matrix which is significant for restoration of Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) habitat. Piptochaetiumavenaceum may be an important grass in more open stands. Some plots attributed to this type have more Quercus alba than Pinusechinata.CONSERVATION RANKING & RARE SPECIESGRank: G3G4 (2002-10-23): Although this association has a reasonably wide potential natural range, shortleaf pine (Pinusechinata) populations seem to have undergone rangewide declines in vigor and extent. This phenomenon is especially pronounced inthe range of this type, primarily due to changes in fire regime and to depredations of the Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonusfrontalis). This community has had little inventory, but the total acreage in viable condition is believed to be quite limited. The moremesic to submesic habitat of this association may never have been common and is likely more vulnerable to successional changes thanmore xeric stands. Further, stands of this association are threatened by removal of commercially valuable tree species (e.g., Quercusalba, Quercus rubra, Pinus echinata), as well as by conversion to commercial forest plantations, and by the effects of continued firesuppression, which would inhibit the reproduction of Pinus echinata and cause the grass-dominated herbaceous layer to deteriorate.Following the removal of the commercially valuable species, and in the absence of fire, stands could become populated withsuccessional hardwoods (e.g., Liriodendron tulipifera, Liquidambar styraciflua) as well as less fire-adapted pines (Pinus taeda, Pinusvirginiana). The range in the rank reflects the need for further inventory and evaluation of this community.High-ranked species: No informationELEMENT DISTRIBUTIONRange: This community occurs in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States, ranging north and west through the SouthernRidge and Valley, Cumberland Plateau, and low Southern Blue Ridge.Subnations: AL, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, VA?TNC Ecoregions: 50:C, 51:C, 52:CUSFS Ecoregions: 221H:PP, 221I:PP, 221J:PP, 222E:PP, 231Ab:CCC, 231C:CP, 231Db:CCC, 231Dc:CCC, M221C:CP,M221Dc:CCC, M221Dd:CCCFederal Lands: NPS (Carl Sandburg Home, Kings Mountain, Little River Canyon?); USFS (Chattahoochee, Cherokee, DanielBoone, Sumter, Talladega)ELEMENT SOURCESReferences: NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern U.S. unpubl. data, Southeastern Ecology Working Group n.d.SHORTLEAF PINE / (HILLSIDE BLUEBERRY, DEERBERRY) - MOUNTAIN LAUREL FORESTELEMENT IDENTIFIERSNVC association: Pinus echinata / Vaccinium (pallidum, stamineum) - Kalmia latifolia ForestDatabase Code: CEGL007078Formation: Rounded-crowned temperate or subpolar needle-leaved evergreen forest (I.A.8.N.b)Alliance: Pinus echinata Forest Alliance (A.119)ELEMENT CONCEPTSummary: This association includes forest vegetation with greater than 75% of the canopy cover of Pinus echinata, occurring over ashrub stratum dominated by ericaceous species, typically Vaccinium pallidum, Vaccinium stamineum, and Kalmia latifolia. Deciduousspecies make-up less than 25% of the canopy coverage and may include Quercus falcata, Quercus coccinea, or, in the southern partof this association's range, Quercus stellata and Quercus marilandica. This community often has a midstory tree stratum withOxydendrum arboreum, Carya pallida, Cornus florida, or Diospyros virginiana. Other characteristic species include Smilax glauca,Silphium compositum, Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum, Scleria oligantha, Piptochaetium avenaceum, and Tephrosia virginiana.These forests occur in the lower elevations (below 2400 feet) of the southern Appalachian Mountains on ridges and upper slopes,typically with southern to western exposures.Environment: These forests occur in the lower elevations (below 2400 feet) of the southern Appalachian Mountains on ridges andupper slopes, typically with southern to western exposures.Vegetation of Sumter National Forest April 30 2004Copyright © 2004 NatureServe53