Upland Hardwood Forests of the Central Coastal Plain of Virginia

Quantitative studies of 27 relatively undisturbed hardwood forests in the central Coastal Plain of Virginia reveal that Quercus alba, Fagus grandifolia, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Quercus falcata dominate most stands. Quercus alba, Q. falcata, and Liriodendron concerate in separate margins of a Bray-Curtis ordination, while Fagus lies between Q. alba and Liriodendron, and broadly overlaps both. Carya tomentosa, C. glabra, and C. cordiformis concentrate in the same area as Liriodendron, and Acer rubrum, never very important, concentrates in the same area as Quercus alba. These forests were structurally more like the Southern Mixed Hardwood Forests of the southeastern Costal Plain, where Fagus is important, than the Oak-Hickory Forests of the Virginia Piedmont, where Quercus coccinea, Q. rubra, Q. prinus, and Acer rubrum are important.