Allegheny-Cumberland dry oak forest and woodland

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The Allegheny-Cumberland dry oak forest and woodland is a forest system found in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

Ohio State of the United States of America

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

West Virginia State of the United States of America

West Virginia is a state located in the Appalachian region in the Southern United States and is also considered to be a part of the Middle Atlantic States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 41st largest state by area, and is ranked 38th in population. The capital and largest city is Charleston.

Virginia State of the United States of America

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's estimated population as of 2017 is over 8.4 million.

Contents

These forests occur on varied topographies, including on acidic substrates in the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus and ridges in the southern Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.

In biology, a substrate is the surface on which an organism lives. A substrate can include biotic or abiotic materials and animals. For example, encrusting algae that lives on a rock can be itself a substrate for an animal that lives on top of the algae.

Allegheny Plateau dissected plateau in the eastern United States

The Allegheny Plateau, in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divided into the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau and the glaciated Allegheny Plateau.

Cumberland Plateau

The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the dissected plateau lands lying west of the main Appalachian Mountains. The terms stem from historical usage rather than geological difference, so there is no strict dividing line between the two. Two major rivers share the names of the plateaus, with the Allegheny River rising in the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland River rising in the Cumberland Plateau in Harlan County, Kentucky.

Flora

The Allegheny-Cumberland dry oak forest and woodlands are typically dominated by white oak ( Quercus alba ), southern red oak ( Quercus falcata ), chestnut oak ( Quercus prinus ), and scarlet oak ( Quercus coccinea ). Less frequent are red maple ( Acer rubrum ), pignut hickory ( Carya glabra ), and mockernut hickory ( Carya tomentosa ).

<i>Quercus alba</i> species of plant

Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as far as northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

<i>Quercus falcata</i> species of plant

Quercus falcata, commonly known as the southern red oak or Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section (Lobatae) of the genus Quercus native to the eastern and south-central United States.

<i>Quercus coccinea</i> species of plant

Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is an oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. The scarlet oak can be mistaken for the pin oak, the black oak, or occasionally the red oak. On scarlet oak the sinuses between lobes are "C"-shaped in comparison to pin oak, which has "U"-shaped sinuses and the acorns are half covered by a deep cap.

Shortleaf pines ( Pinus echinata ) or Virginia pines ( Pinus virginiana ) are occasionally present, particularly near escarpments or in recently burned areas. In areas that have not recently burned, white pines ( Pinus strobus ) may be prominent. Sprouts of chestnut ( Castanea dentata ) can still be found in areas where it was formerly common. [1]

<i>Pinus echinata</i> species of plant

Pinus echinata, the shortleaf pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern United States from southernmost New York State, south to northern Florida, west to eastern Oklahoma, and southwest to eastern Texas. The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. This tree reaches heights of 20–30 metres (65–100 ft) with a trunk diameter of 0.5–0.9 metres.

<i>Pinus virginiana</i> species of plant

Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow taller under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 0.5 m diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.

Escarpment A steep slope or cliff separating two relatively level regions

An escarpment (scarp) is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as an effect of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having differing elevations. Usually scarp are used interchangeably with escarpment.

Adjacent transitions

On more base-rich substrates, this system transitions to Southern Ridge and Valley/Cumberland dry calcareous forest. To the east and north, it borders the Central Appalachian dry oak-pine forest, generally along the Allegheny Front. [1]

Base (chemistry) substance that can accept hydrogen ions (protons) or more generally, donate a pair of valence electrons

In chemistry, bases are substances that, in aqueous solution, release hydroxide (OH−) ions, are slippery to the touch, can taste bitter if an alkali, change the color of indicators (e.g., turn red litmus paper blue), react with acids to form salts, promote certain chemical reactions (base catalysis), accept protons from any proton donor or contain completely or partially displaceable OH− ions. Examples of bases are the hydroxides of the alkali metals and the alkaline earth metals (NaOH, Ca(OH)2, etc.—see alkali hydroxide and alkaline earth hydroxide).

The Southern Ridge and Valley / Cumberland dry calcareous forest is a forest system found in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Central Appalachian dry oak-pine forest is a forest system found from Maine south through New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, to West Virginia and Virginia. It is abundant in the low- and mid-elevation central Appalachian Mountains and in the central Piedmont.

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Appalachian Mountains mountain range in the eastern United States and Canada

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west.

<i>Quercus muehlenbergii</i> species of plant

Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinkapin oak, is an oak in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii, is native to eastern and central North America, ranging from Vermont west to Wisconsin and south to South Carolina, western Florida, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.

Northeastern coastal forests

The Northeastern coastal forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the northeast and middle Atlantic region of the United States. The ecoregion covers an area of 34,630 sq miles (89,691 km²) encompassing the Piedmont and coastal plain of seven states, extending from coastal southwestern Maine, southeastern New Hampshire, eastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, southward through Connecticut, New York State, New Jersey, southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

Nichols Arboretum Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan

Nichols Arboretum, locally known as the Arb, is an arboretum operated by the University of Michigan. Located on the eastern edge of its Central Campus at 1610 Washington Heights in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Arboretum is a mosaic of University and City properties operated as one unit. The arboretum is open daily from sunrise to sunset with no charge for admission. The Huron River separates a northern section of the arboretum's floodplain woods; the railroad marks the northern border.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ecoregion in the eastern United States

The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.

Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

The Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests is an ecoregion in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, in the Eastern United States. The ecoregion is located in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, including the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It covers an area of about 61,500 square miles (159,000 km2) in: northeast Alabama and Georgia, northwest South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and central West Virginia and Pennsylvania; and small extensions into Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.

<i>Carya tomentosa</i> species of plant

Carya tomentosa, is a tree in the Juglandaceae or walnut family. The most abundant of the hickories, common in the eastern half of the US, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes an excellent fuelwood, as well.

Middle Atlantic coastal forests

The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests along the coast of the southeastern United States.

Southeastern mixed forests

The Southeastern mixed forests are an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome, in the lower portion of the Eastern United States.

Interior Low Plateaus physiographic province in the United States

The Interior Low Plateaus are a physiographic region in eastern United States. It consists of a diverse landscape that extends from north Alabama across central Tennessee and Kentucky into southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Its natural communities are a matrix of temperate forests, woodlands, and prairies.

The Central and southern Appalachian montane oak forest is a forest system found in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The Southern Appalachian low-elevation pine forest is a forest system that occurs in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. It is found in the lower elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Piedmont and Cumberland Plateau, extending into part of the Interior Low Plateaus.

Central Appalachian pine-oak rocky woodland is a forest system found in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia. It occurs on lower-elevation hilltops, outcrops, and rocky slopes in the central Appalachian Mountains, the Allegheny Plateau, and the northern Piedmont.

Southeastern conifer forests ecoregion in the United States

The Southeastern conifer forests are a tropical and subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River.

References

  1. 1 2 "Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
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