Addendum to the Guide to the Natural Communities of the Delaware Estuary
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ADDENDUM TO THE UIDE TO THE ATURAL OMMUNITIES G N C OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY SEPTEMBER0 2009 Citation: Largay, E. and L. Sneddon. 2009. Addendum to the Guide to the Ecological Systems and Vegetation Communities of the Delaware Estuary. NatureServe. Arlington, Virginia. Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Report #09-XX. 112 pp. PDE Report No. 09-XX Copyright © 2009 NatureServe COVER PHOTOS Top L: Overwash Dunes, photo from Delaware Natural Heritage Program Top R: Coastal Plain Muck Pondshore, photo by Kathleen Strakosch Walz, New Jersey Natural Heritage Program Bottom L: Dry Oak Hickory Forest, photo by Tony Davis, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program Bottom R: Inland Dune and Ridge Forest/Woodland, Kathleen Strakosch Walz, New Jersey Natural Heritage Program ADDENDUM TO THE GUIDE TO THE NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY Ery Largay Lesley Sneddon September 2009 Acknowledgements: This work was made possible through funding from the Delaware Estuary Program (EPA 320 Funding). Kristin Snow and Mary Russo from NatureServe provided essential data management services to develop this report and report format. Robert Coxe and Bill McAvoy from the Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Kathleen Strakosch Walz from the New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Tony Davis from the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Linda Kelly and Karl Anderson, independent botanists, provided ecological expertise, energy and insight. Mark Anderson and Charles Ferree from The Nature Conservancy developed ecological systems maps to accompany this work. Danielle Kreeger, Laura Whalen, and Martha-Maxwell Doyle from the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary provided support and guidance throughout this project. We thank everyone who helped us with this effort. Established in 1996, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is a non-profit organization based in Wilmington, Delaware. The Partnership manages the Delaware Estuary Program (DELEP), one of 28 estuaries recognized by the U.S. Congress for its national significance under the Clean Water Act. DELEP is the only tri-state, multi-agency National Estuary Program in the country. In collaboration with a broad spectrum of governmental agencies, non-profit corporations, businesses, and citizens, the Partnership works to implement the Delaware Estuary’s Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan to restore and protect the natural and economic resources of the Delaware Estuary and its tributaries. Lead agency partners include: Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Delaware River Basin Commission; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; City of Philadelphia; National Park Service; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Regions II and III; and, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organization that provides scientific information and tools needed to help guide effective conservation action. NatureServe and its network of Natural Heritage programs are the leading source for information about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems. NatureServe represents an international network of biological inventories—known as natural heritage programs or Conservation Data Centers—operating in all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 10 CLASSIFICATION APPROACH ......................................................................................... 11 International Terrestrial Ecological Systems Classification .........................................................11 U.S. National Vegetation Classification System ..........................................................................11 DATA COLLECTION & MAINTENANCE ............................................................................. 12 NatureServe ................................................................................................................................12 Data Gaps...................................................................................................................................12 FORMAT OF THIS REPORT ............................................................................................. 13 Ecological Systems .....................................................................................................................13 Vegetation Communities .............................................................................................................14 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Hardwood Forest ................................ 18 Inland Dune Ridge Forest ...........................................................................................................19 Mixed Oak-Pine Forest ...............................................................................................................20 Shortleaf Pine / (Southern Red Oak, Water Oak) / Hillside Blueberry Forest .............................21 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Maritime Forest ................................... 24 Mid-Atlantic Coastal Maritime Forest ..........................................................................................25 Loblolly Pine / Wax-myrtle / Saltmeadow Cordgrass Tidal Woodland .........................................27 Coastal Loblolly Pine Wetland Forest .........................................................................................28 North Atlantic Coast Maritime Post Oak Forest ..........................................................................29 Maritime Holly Forest ..................................................................................................................31 Maritime Red-cedar Woodland ...................................................................................................32 Successional Maritime Forest .....................................................................................................34 Chesapeake Bay Tall Maritime Shrubland ..................................................................................35 Northern Tall Maritime Shrubland ...............................................................................................37 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp & Wet Hardwood Forest .............................................................................................................................................. 40 Red Maple - Sweetgum Swamp .................................................................................................41 Central Coastal Plain Basin Swamp ...........................................................................................42 Pond Pine Woodland ..................................................................................................................44 Swamp Cottonwood Coastal Plain Pond ....................................................................................45 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Peat Swamp ............................. 48 Twig-rush Peat Mat .....................................................................................................................49 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Pitch Pine Barrens ............................. 52 4 Pine Barrens Pine – Oak Woodland ...........................................................................................53 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Pitch Pine Lowland ............................. 56 Pine Barrens Lowland Forest ......................................................................................................57 Ecolgical System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Stream and River .................................. 58 Chesapeake/ Piedmont Red Maple / Lizard's-tail Swamp ..........................................................59 Coastal Plain Atlantic White-cedar - Red Maple Swamp ............................................................60 Atlantic White-cedar / Seaside Alder Swamp ..............................................................................61 Southern Red Maple - Blackgum Swamp Forest ........................................................................62 Red Maple - Sweetgum Swamp .................................................................................................64 Swamp-loosestrife Shrub Swamp ...............................................................................................66 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Pond .................................................. 68 Smartweed - Cutgrass Beaver Pond ..........................................................................................70 Swamp Cottonwood Coastal Plain Pond ....................................................................................71 Chainfern Small Depression Pond ..............................................................................................72 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh .... 74 Brackish Tidal Creek Shrubland .................................................................................................75 Oligohaline Mixed Forbs Tidal Marsh .........................................................................................76 Ecological System: Northern Atlantic