Rich Cove Forests
The mixed hardwood forests of this group occupy fertile, mesic, mountain-slope habitats at elevations ranging from about 300 m (1,000 ft) commonly to 1,100 m (3,600 ft), and occasionally higher. Distributed locally throughout western Virginia, these forests are strongly associated with moist, sheltered, landforms (i.e., coves, ravines, and concave lower slopes). Soils may be weathered from various substrates but are generally moderately acidic to moderately alkaline, with high base saturation. In these habitats, soil fertility appears to be strongly correlated with high base cation levels (particularly calcium, magnesium, and manganese) rather than with high pH, and higher-elevation sites often have soils with surprisingly low pH. Characteristic trees include sugar maple (Acer saccharum), basswoods (Tilia americana var. americana and var. heterophylla), white ash (Fraxinus americana), tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) and yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava); chiefly south of the James River). Herbaceous growth is lush with spring ephemerals and leafy, shade-tolerant forbs such as blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), yellow jewelweed (Impatiens pallida), large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), wood-nettle (Laportea canadensis), common black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), sweet cicely (Osmorhiza claytonii), Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), large-leaf waterleaf (Hydrophyllum macrophyllum), large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), red trillium (Trillium erectum), yellow violets (Viola pubescens and Viola eriocarpa), white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), two-leaved miterwort (Mitella diphylla), goat's-beard (Aruncus dioicus var. dioicus,), yellow mandarin (Prosartes lanuginosa), showy skullcap (Scutellaria serrata), eastern blue-eyed-mary (Collinsia verna), Guyandotte beauty (Synandra hispidula), glade fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpos), and many others. Compositional variation related to substrate and elevation is complex but the group partitions convincingly into several major community types. The principal threats to rich cove forests are logging and invasion by shade-tolerant, non-native weeds, especially garlic-mustard (Alliaria petiolata). The frequent to common white ash component of these communities is undergoing widespread mortality from Emerald Ash Borer outbreaks.
Rich Cove and Slope Forests are distinguished from the similar Basic Mesic Forests by their more limited, montane distribution; occurrence at higher elevations; and floristic composition that features a number of primarily Appalachian, higher-elevation species.
References: Coulling and Rawinski (1999), Fleming (1999), Fleming and Coulling (2001), Fleming and Moorhead (1996), Fleming and Moorhead (2000), Johnson and Ware (1982), Olson and Hupp (1986), Rawinski et al. (1994), Rawinski et al. (1996), Rheinhardt and Ware (1984).
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Classification of this group is based on analysis of 119 plots sampled in 34 counties of Virginia (Fig. 1). Most of the plots have also been analyzed in various multi-state, regional classification efforts for the National Park Service (e.g., National Capital Region and Appalachian Trail vegetation mapping projects). Some additional data collection is needed to determine the full within-state geographic ranges of the four classified types. Click on any highlighted CEGL code below to view the global USNVC description provided by NatureServe Explorer.
Download a spreadsheet of compositional summary statistics for each of the community types listed below.