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Sandstone Pavement Barrens
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International Vegetation Classification Associations [-]
This New York natural community encompasses all or part of the concept of the following International Vegetation Classification (IVC) natural community associations. These are often described at finer resolution than New York's natural communities. The IVC is developed and maintained by NatureServe.


NatureServe Ecological Systems [-]
This New York natural community falls into the following ecological system(s). Ecological systems are often described at a coarser resolution than New York's natural communities and tend to represent clusters of associations found in similar environments. The ecological systems project is developed and maintained by NatureServe.


Characteristic Species [-]
Trees > 5m
  • Red Maple (Acer rubrum var. rubrum)
  • Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)
  • Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
  • Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Shrubs 2-5m
  • Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)
Shrubs < 2m
  • Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)
  • Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata)
  • Sheep-laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)
  • Mountain Holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus)
  • Black Chokeberry (Photinia melanocarpa)
  • Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)
  • Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Herbs
  • Poverty Oatgrass (Danthonia spicata)
  • Wavy Hair Grass (Deschampsia flexuosa)
  • Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens)
  • Canada May-flower (Maianthemum canadense)
  • Eastern Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
Nonvascular
  • Cladina mitis
  • Cladina rangiferina
  • Cladina stellaris
  • Cladona uncialis
  • Dicranum spp.
  • Pleurozium schreberi
  • Polytrichum juniperinum
  • Sterocaulon saxatile
  • Xanthoparmelia plittii
Similar Ecological Communities
  • Calcareous pavement barrens
    This upland barrens occurs on flat to gently sloping pure calcareous bedrock with a pH greater than 5.5 and dominated by calcareous indicator species such as eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), in contrast to sandstone pavement barrens where acidic indicators such as jack pine (Pinus banksiana), blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), and black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) predominate.
Vegetation
Trees > 5m
Shrubs 2-5m
Shrubs < 2m
Herbs
Nonvascular
Unvegetated
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percent Cover
This figure helps visualize the structure and 'look' or 'feel' of a typical Sandstone Pavement Barrens. Each bar represents the amount of 'coverage' for all the species growing at that height. Because layers overlap (shrubs may grow under trees, for example), the shaded regions can add up to more than 100%.

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© 2004-2012 New York Natural Heritage Program, a partnership between
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and
the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2013. Online Conservation Guide for Sandstone Pavement Barrens. Available from: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/guide.php?id=9959. Accessed May 25th, 2013.
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