Grace Forest, a Mixed Mesophytic Stand on Long Island, New York

Abstract

Grace Forest, a 0.32 km2 wooded tract in the North Hills of western Nassau County, Long Island, New York is a five-layered upland forest with Liriodendron (tuliptree), Fagus grandifolia (beech), Quercus borealis var. maxima (red oak), Acer rubrum (red maple), and Betula lenta (black birch) dominating the canopy. Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) dominates a conspicuous, well-developed understory. A tall shrub layer is poorly developed and consists primarily of A. rubrum, Fagus, and Fraxinus saplings. Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaved viburnum) is widespread and is a dominant member of the medium shrub layer. On hillsides and hilltops, Rubus allegheniensis is often a local dominant in the medium shrub layer. The herb layer is well developed; V. acerifolium cover is sparse in moist bottomlands and sunny slopes. Ferns (Athyrium filix-femina, Thelypteris noveboracensis, and Osmunda claytoniana) occur in large, uniform stands in bottomlands. On sunny slopes, the herb layer achieves its greatest floristic richness-in addition to Athyrium and Thelypteris, Aster divaricatus, Collinsonia canadensis, Circaea quadrisulcata, and Parthenocissus quinquefolia are common constituents. The forest is interpreted as a floristically impoverished relative of the all-deciduous mixed mesophytic forest (MMF) which is best developed in the southern Appalachians. Because of the close floristic relationships throughout their ranges among stands of the MMF and oakchestnut regions of Braun, we support Knapp's classification in which both regions are considered subdivisions of an oak-tuliptree mixed forest.