Title
West French and Picard-Belgian mixed pedunculate oak-ash forests (Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur) with Carpinus betulus, with Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, partly Luzula forsteri
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
France: Aunis, Poitou, Maine, Beauce, Picardie; Belgium: Walloonia, Hennegau
area frequency
17 polygons.
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
Endymio-Carpinetum Noirfalise 1969; Quercetum atlanticum Lebrun & Louis 1942.
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
Mixed forest with a comparatively dense stock of deciduous trees in the tree layer. The shrub layer consists of Corylus avellana and Carpinus betulus. Before the leaf canopy closes, a spring synusium with rhizome and bulb geophytes is found as a herb layer, but the summer synusium features grasses and ferns. The moss layer is remarkably well developed.
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur, Ulmus minor, Acer pseudoplatanus, Prunus avium, Carpinus betulus; on sandy, acidic soils with Quercus petraea, Tilia cordata, Fagus sylvatica, locally Tilia x vulgaris
Shrub layer
Carpinus betulus, Corylus avellana, Cornus sanguinea, Euonymus europaea, Viburnum opulus, Sambucus nigra, Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus monogyna, (Ilex aquifolium)
Lianas
Lonicera periclymenum, Hedera helix, Tamus communis (rare in Belgium)
Herb layer
Anemone nemorosa, Ranunculus ficaria, Adoxa moschatellina, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Ranunculus auricomus, Primula elatior, Lamium galeobdolon, Milium effusum, Poa nemoralis, Circaea lutetiana, Polygonatum multiflorum, Viola reichenbachiana, Epilobium montanum, Dryopteris filix-mas, Athyrium filix-femina, Vinca minor, Gagea spathacea, Arum maculatum
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
Atrichum undulatum, Eurynchium spp.
Diagnostically important species
Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur, Ulmus minor, Carpinus betulus; Corylus avellana; Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, Ranunculus ficaria, Lamium galeobdolon, Circaea lutetiana, Polygonatum multiflorum
Ecological variants
Edaphic forms (subassociations):- dry, acidophytic forms with Holcus mollis, Luzula pilosa, Teucrium scorodonia, Carex pilulifera and Convallaria majalis as differential species; on loams above sand or sandstones with Fagus sylvatica and Quercus petraea.- Forms above thick, waterlogged and fresh loams with Dryopteris carthusiana, Athyrium filix-femina and Deschampsia cespitosa; on lime-containing clay or marl with Allium ursinum, Ribes rubrum, Corydalis solida or Helleborus viridis.- dry forms on loam above chalk: a) moderately thick soil (less than 1 m) with Lonicera xylosteum, Ligustrum vulgare, Vinca minor, Melica uniflora, Phyteuma spicatum, Mercurialis perennis, Sanicula europaea, Listera ovata; b) deep soil with Arum maculatum, Daphne mezereum, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, Galium odoratum and other mesophilous species.
Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)
This community covers great expanses. Its continuous range extends via central Belgium to the edges of the Beauce (a region to the southwest of Paris); the French part of the range features Primula acaulis, Conopodium majus, Tamus communis, Festuca heterophylla (in the south of the Seine to the Beauce); the Belgian part of the range features Gagea spathacea.
Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)
Fago-Quercetum, Mespilo-Quercetum, Carici-Fraxinetum; Quercetum pubescentis; Xerobromion.
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
acidophilous oak forests (F6, F5, F4, F8), hornbeam forests (F35, F50), species-poor und species-rich beech forests (F76, F106, F107, F111, F112), downy oak forests (G37), dune vegetation (P6), alder carrs (T1), alluvial and moist forests (U9, U8, U24, U25, U28).
Land use, substitute communities
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
Forests and ruderalised forests with Ulmus minor in the agricultural landscape. Middle forests (without a shrub layer) are very widespread, low forest mostly features Corylus avellana while high forests have Quercus robur, Fraxinus excelsior and Acer pseudoplatanus; Scrub with Prunus mahaleb and Cornus mas.
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
Mesobromion.
arable land (characteristic weed communities)
Cereal and beet cultivation (in the west).
settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
Open landscape with large villages at water sites and large, isolated manors in the middles of their estates.
Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
Plateaus carved by valleys (particularly in lowlands, low terraces at the bases of slopes and in valley bottoms)
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
lowland
Geology (bedrock)
eolian sediments (Pleistocene above Tertiary); limestone (Jurassic), sandstone (Cretaceous)
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
leached brown soils, luvisols with formation of ortstein, gleyed luvisols, clays, sands, bluff formation; (orthic and gleyic luvisols; eutric cambisols)
soil texture
loamy, clayey, sandy
soil moisture, water balance
fresh to dry (moist)
soil reaction
acidic to neutral
soil fertility
mesotrophic to eutrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
VI(V)2, VI2, VI(IV)2
average annual temperature
10-12 EC
average annual precipitation
600-800 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
July 17-19 EC
average temperature of the coldest month
January 3-6 EC
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
---
Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
Frequently converted into middle and low forests.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
Gagea spathacea.
causes of endangerment
Forestry, general environmental pollution.
required measures for protection and restitution
Protection of semi-natural remnants; natural forestry.
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Belgium: forests of Colfontaine (Hennegau) and of Monstreux (Brabant), best developed in state forests; France: forests of Coucy and St. Gobain.
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
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Most important references (author, year)
Bournerias, Géhu & Wattez 1975; Jovet 1949; Jovet 1979; Lericq 1965; Noirfalise 1968; Noirfalise 1969; Lavergne & Bournerias 1971; Rameau 1996b
Compiled by
A. Noirfalise
