Sumter National Forest Final Report - NatureServe

procumbens) Forest (CEGL006271). Appalachian shale forests and woodlands with Pinus virginiana occur on steep, shaley slopesand have a stunted canopies and sparse herb and shrub strata, characterized by species adapted to shaley substrates. These shalecommunities are classed in Pinus virginiana - Quercus (coccinea, prinus) Forest Alliance (A.408) and Pinus (rigida, pungens,virginiana) - Quercus prinus Woodland Alliance (A.677).CONSERVATION RANKING & RARE SPECIESGRank: G4? (2001-2-11): This xeric evergreen forest community will be maintained on sites where local soil conditions,topographic extremes, or occasional fire function to retard hardwood invasion. Infestations of southern pine beetle (Dendroctonusfrontalis) can cause mortality of canopy trees. Examples affected by southern pine beetle in the Great Smoky Mountains can have upto 80-90% standing dead pine.High-ranked species: Buckleya distichophylla (G2), Penstemon deamii (G1), Thermopsis villosa (G3?), Vaccinium hirsutum (G3)ELEMENT DISTRIBUTIONRange: This community occurs primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States, ranging from central Pennsylvania, southand west through the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, and Cumberland Plateau to northern Georgia and Alabama, extending westwardto scattered areas in the Interior Low Plateau and eastward into the upper Piedmont. It is reported from the states of Georgia, NorthCarolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and is probably in Maryland, Virginia, and WestVirginia.Subnations: AL, GA, IN, KY, MD?, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA?, WVTNC Ecoregions: 43:C, 44:C, 49:C, 50:C, 51:C, 52:C, 59:C, 61:PUSFS Ecoregions: 221Ea:CC?, 221Eb:CCC, 221Ec:CCC, 221Ed:CCP, 221Ef:CCC, 221Eg:CCC, 221Ha:CCC, 221Hb:CCC,221Hc:CCP, 221He:CCC, 221Ja:CCC, 221Jb:CCC, 222Da:CCC, 222Dc:CCC, 222Dg:CCC, 222Dj:CCC, 222Eg:CCC, 222Ej:CCC,222El:CCC, 222En:CCC, 222Eo:CCC, 222Fd:CCC, 222Ff:CCC, 231Aa:CCC, 231Ab:CCC, 231Ae:CCC, 231Bc:CCC, 231Cd:CCC,231Da:CCC, 231Dc:CCC, M221Aa:CCP, M221Ab:CCC, M221Ac:CCC, M221Bd:CCP, M221Be:CCP, M221Cd:CCC,M221Dc:CCC, M221Dd:CCCFederal Lands: NPS (Blue Ridge Parkway?, Chickamauga-Chattanooga, Great Smoky Mountains, Kennesaw Mountain, KingsMountain, Little River Canyon?, Mammoth Cave); USFS (Bankhead, Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Daniel Boone, Land Between theLakes?, Nantahala, Pisgah, Sumter, Talladega)ELEMENT SOURCESReferences: Allard 1990, Ambrose 1990a, Barden 1977, Burns and Honkala 1990a, CAP pers. comm. 1998, Cooper 1963, Core1966, Evans 1991, Eyre 1980, Fike 1999, Gettman 1974, Homoya pers. comm., Malter 1977, NatureServe Ecology - SoutheasternU.S. unpubl. data, Nelson 1986, Patterson et al. 1999, Peet et al. unpubl. data 2002, Pyne 1994, Racine 1966, Rawinski 1992,Schafale 1998b, Schafale and Weakley 1990, Southeastern Ecology Working Group n.d., Walton et al. 1997, Whittaker 1956VIRGINIA PINE SUCCESSIONAL FORESTELEMENT IDENTIFIERSNVC association: Pinus virginiana Successional ForestDatabase Code: CEGL002591Formation: Rounded-crowned temperate or subpolar needle-leaved evergreen forest (I.A.8.N.b)Alliance: Pinus virginiana Forest Alliance (A.131)ELEMENT CONCEPTSummary: This community occurs in areas where canopy removal has created dry, open conditions and bare mineral soil, allowingfor the establishment of Pinus virginiana. These habitats include old fields, old pastures, clearcuts, and burned or eroded areas. Thisforest typically has a very dense canopy of Pinus virginiana and little understory vegetation. The dense canopy may also includeadmixtures of other Pinus species (e.g., Pinus taeda, Pinus echinata) or other early successional deciduous trees (e.g., Acer rubrum,Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera). Associated woody and herbaceous species vary with geography but are typicallyruderal or exotic species. Shrub and herb layers are frequently very sparse. Stands are short-lived, generally less than 75 years.Environment: This community occurs in areas where canopy removal has created open conditions and bare mineral soil, allowingfor the establishment of Pinus virginiana. These conditions can include old fields, old pastures, clearcuts, and burned or eroded areas.In the Ridge and Valley of Tennessee, northeastern Monroe County, early successional forests with Pinus virginiana dominance werefound on low slopes in areas that were cleared for agriculture prior to the 1970s, when Tellico Lake was created (Andreu and Tukman1995). In the Central Appalachians, this vegetation occurs where soft shales have been farmed (primarily in valleys), resulting instands with nothing but successional species in the understory. Soils underlying these communities are of two general types, i.e., thosederived in residuum from calcareous shale and calcareous sandstone of the Middle Ordovician and those of some other origin. Seriesof the former type include Dandridge (Lithic Ruptic-Alfic Eutrochrepts), Tellico (Typic Rhododults), and Steekee (Ruptic-UlticDystrochrepts). Other soil series that this forest type may occur on include Litz, Dewey, Alcoa, Bland, Etowah, Lobdell and Neubert.All of these soils are well-drained and range in pH from moderate acid to very strongly acidic.Vegetation of Sumter National Forest April 30 2004Copyright © 2004 NatureServe56