4.4 Terrestrial Communities
typical of their regions, often combining plants from adjacent communities with typical outcrop plants.
• North-facing clifs have a cooler microclimate than the surrounding areas and some- times harbor disjunct or regionally rare species characteristic of cooler, moister regions. In some cases these species are believed to be remnants from more widespread popu- lations that existed in the Ice Ages. In the Mountain ecoregion, south-facing clifs may support species more typical of the warmer Piedmont or even Coastal Plain. • Te acidic, mafc, and calcareous types support diferent fora that refect the rock chemistry. Mafc and calcareous clifs contain calcium-loving species that do not occur on the more common Acidic clifs. Te foristic diferences between calcareous and mafc clifs are more subtle, and refect diferences in the balance of basic elements. • Piedmont/Coastal Plain heath blufs difer somewhat from the other community types in that they have little bare rock. Tey do, however, lack a closed tree canopy, appar- ently because of steepness. Tey are characterized by a dense shrub layer of Mountain Laurel or Catawba Rhododendron, which are otherwise essentially absent in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Tese communities occur on north-facing blufs, and the cool microclimate is believed to be important to these species. • Granitic fatrock communities occur on fat to gently sloping exfoliated outcrops of granitic rocks and are scattered throughout the Piedmont region, from Virginia to Alabama. Te rock outcrop is generally fush with the surrounding soil and has only minor irregularities. Tese communities are somewhat related to the granitic dome communities of the upper Piedmont and Mountains in that vegetation is sparse and very patchy. On bare rock, soil mats that accumulate in moss clumps undergo a gradual development, deepening and being invaded by a succession of plants.
Te 2005 WAP describes low-elevation clifs/rock outcrops in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains as a priority habitat (see Chapter 5) (NCWRC 2005) .
4.4.8.2 Location of Habitat Low-elevation clif and rock outcrop habitat is spread throughout the Mountain and upper Piedmont ecoregions. Piedmont examples include Sauratown Mountains inclusive of Pilot Mountain, and the Crowders, Uwharrie, and South Mountains. Flatrock communities are found primarily in the eastern Piedmont. Other habitat types are present even into the Coastal Plain, such as heath blufs.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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