Plants and Animals
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Plants
Many of the biggest trees in the Dry Chestnut Oak - Northern Red Oak / Heath Forest are oaks, but the canopy may also contain hickories, American beech, sweet birch, blackgum, red maple, and other trees. The canopy may not be as dense as in other natural communities where the soil is more moist or fertile. The shrubs are mostly heaths. Ecobit: Heaths Mapleleaf viburnum may also be present. Small plants are sparse in this dry community.
What’s missing? American chestnut may have been an important part of the canopy in years past. Ecobit: Chestnut Sprouts: Phantoms of the Past
Canopy Trees
The trees whose crowns intercept most of the sunlight in a forest stand. The uppermost layer of a forest.
- chestnut oak
- hickories
- northern red oak
- red maple
- black oak (occasional)
- blackgum (occasional)
Understory Trees
Small trees and young specimens of large trees growing beneath the canopy trees. Also called the subcanopy.
- American beech
- blackgum
- red maple
- black cherry (occasional)
- sassafras (occasional)
Shrubs, Saplings, and Vines
Shrubs, juvenile trees and vines at the right height to give birds and others a perch up off the ground but below the trees.
- eastern poison-ivy
- hillside blueberry
- mapleleaf viburnum
- roundleaf greenbrier
- Virginia creeper
- black huckleberry (occasional)
- mountain laurel (occasional)
- Pennsylvania blackberry (occasional)
- pink azalea (occasional)
Low Plants (Field Layer)
Plants growing low to the ground. This includes small shrubs and tree seedlings.
- naked-flower tick-trefoil
- poverty oatgrass
- striped prince’s-pine
- whorled yellow loosestrife
- wild sarsaparilla (occasionally abundant)
- hay-scented fern (occasional)
Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
There are at least a couple of non-native plants that invade this community, including garlic mustard*. Check out the Ecological Threats page for more.
Animals
Even though natural communities aren’t named after animals, animals do play a crucial role in maintaining natural communities. Plants and animals need each other. To name just a few examples, plants provide food and habitat for animals, and animals help plants reproduce by spreading pollen and seeds. To learn more, see The Role of Animals in Natural Communities in Ecology Basics.
Check out iNaturalist to see photos of animals (and plants!) that people have seen in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.