Dry, Ultra-Mafic, Upland, Serpentine Barrens Complex

Description

This dry, ultra-mafic, upland phase is on soils that are exceptionally shallow and dry. This community type generally grades into the Serpentine Grassland phase. It may be delineated where sod formation and graminoid dominance begins (Zimmerman et al., 2012).

Resilience management

Accumulation of soil organic matter will facilitate succession away from this community. This community requires relatively frequent and relatively intense disturbance including disturbance of soil organic horizons.

Dominant plant species

1. whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), grass

2. lyrate rockcress (Arabis lyrata), grass

3. Michaux's stitchwort (Minuartia michauxii), grass

4. serpentine aster (Symphyotrichum depauperatum), grass

5. field chickweed (Cerastium arvense), grass

6. annual fimbry (Fimbristylis annua), grass

7. churchmouse threeawn (Aristida dichotoma), grass

8. slimspike threeawn (Aristida longespica), grass

9. partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), grass

10. lopsided rush (Juncus secundus), grass

11. roundseed panicgrass (Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon), grass

12. whorled milkwort (Polygala verticillata), grass

13. pleatleaf knotweed (Polygonum tenue), grass

14. poverty dropseed (Sporobolus vaginiflorus), grass

15. arrowleaf violet (Viola sagittata), grass

16. fewflower nutrush (Scleria pauciflora), grass

17. quill fameflower (Phemeranthus teretifolius), grass

18. moss phlox (Phlox subulata ssp. subulata), grass

19. little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), grass

Submodel

Description

This phase is in areas where soil organic matter has mostly covered the exposed gravel surface of the gravel forb community and the site supports dense, prairie-like graminoid cover typically dominated by warm-season grasses. This community may be said to end either (1) where graminoid dominance and continuous soil substrate ends (where the "Serpentine gravel forb community" generally begins) or (2) where shrub cover reaches about 25 percent (where the "Red-cedar–pine serpentine shrubland" generally begins) (Zimmerman et al., 2012).

Characteristics and indicators

The list of representative herbaceous species is too long to fit in the database, so they are listed here:

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Muhlenbergia mexicana (muhly)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple love-grass)
Setaria geniculata (perennial foxtail)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Sporobolus heterolepiss (prairie dropseed)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Bouteloua curtipendulas (side-oats gramma)
Senecio anonymuss (plain ragwort)
Aristida purpurascenss (arrowfeather)
Aristida dichotoma (churchmouse three-awn)
Aster depauperatuss (serpentine aster)
Panicum acuminatum (a panicgrass)
Panicum annulum (annulus panicgrass)
Panicum dichotomum (a panicgrass)
Panicum oligosanthes (a panicgrass)
Panicum sphaerocarpon (a panicgrass)
Potentilla canadensis (old-field cinquefoil)
Rosa carolina (prairie rose)
Setaria geniculata (perennial foxtail)
Cerastium arvense var. villosissimums (barrens chickweed)
Phlox subulata ssp. subulata (creeping phlox)
Achillea millefoliumI (yarrow)
Eupatorium aromaticum (small white snakeroot)
Scleria pauciflora (few-flowered nutrush)
Oenothera fruticosa (sundrops)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod)
Antennaria plantaginifolia (plantain pussytoes)
Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)
Asclepias viridiflora (green milkweed)

Submodel

Description

This phase is in areas where soil organic matter has mostly covered the exposed gravel surface of the gravel forb community, and the soil has developed sufficiently to support tree cover. This community commonly is a savanna with dense, prairie-like graminoid cover and scattered trees and shrubs. Although the most typical aspect is that of a shrubland, some examples of this community type have a woodland physiognomy. This community may be said to end either (1) where woody cover of at least 25 percent ends (where the "Serpentine barren grassland community" generally begins) or (2) where trees exceed 5 meters in height and the tree canopy reaches about 60 percent total cover, thereby becoming sufficiently continuous to prohibit dense graminoid cover (where the "Serpentine Virginia pine-oak" or "Serpentine pitch pine-oak forest" generally begins). This type commonly grades into the one of the serpentine forest types downslope on somewhat deeper soils. This community shares many dominants with both the "Pitch pine-scrub oak woodland" and "Pitch pine-mixed hardwood woodland." The distinction between the communities lies in the less common species present in the serpentine type (e.g. Sporobolus heterolepis, Panicum depauperatum, Bouteloua curtipendulas) and the geology itself. Trees on this site are commonly less than 5 meters tall (Zimmerman et al., 2012).

Characteristics and indicators

The list of representative herbaceous species is too long to fit in the database, so they are listed here:

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Sporobolus heterolepiss (prairie dropseed)
Panicum depauperatums (poverty panicgrass)
Sporobolus vaginiflorus (poverty grass)
Aristida longispica (slimspike three-awn)
Aristida purpurascenss (arrowfeather)
Aristida dichotoma (churchmouse three-awn)
Muhlenbergia mexicana (satin grass)
Setaria geniculata (knotroot fox-tail)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass)
Scleria paucifloras (few-flowered nut-rush)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Bouteloua curtipendulas (side-oats gramma)
Aster depauperatuss (serpentine aster)
Potentilla canadensis (old-field cinquefoil)
Phlox subulata ssp. subulata (creeping phlox)
Cerastium arvense var. uillosissimums (barrens chickweed)
Achillea millefoliumI (yarrow)
Eupatorium aromaticum (small white snakeroot)
Oenothera fruticosa (sundrops)
Senecio anonymuss (plain ragwort)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod)
Antennaria plantaginifolia (plantain pussytoe)

Dominant plant species

1. eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), tree

2. pitch pine (Pinus rigida), tree

3. Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), tree

4. post oak (Quercus stellata), tree

5. black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), tree

6. blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), tree

7. sassafras (Sassafras albidum), tree

8. winged sumac (Rhus copallinum), shrub

9. smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), shrub

10. dwarf chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides), shrub

11. black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), shrub

Submodel

Submodel