Terrestrial, Palustrine, and Estuarine Community Types

Formal and technical descriptions of the community types in the Classification of Natural Communities of Massachusetts, Version 2.0.

Terrestrial Community Types

Terrestrial communities occur in upland on predominantly well-drained soils.

Acidic Rock Cliff Community	Northern Hardwoods - Hemlock - White Pine Forest
Acidic Rocky Summit/Rock Outcrop Community	Oak - Hemlock - White Pine Forest
Black Oak - Scarlet Oak Woodland	Oak - Hickory Forest
Calcareous Rock Cliff Community	Oak - Tulip Tree Forest
Calcareous Rocky Summit/Rock Outcrop Community	Open Oak Forest/Woodland
Chestnut Oak Forest/Woodland	Open Talus/Coarse Boulder Community
Circumneutral Rock Cliff Community	Pitch Pine - Oak Forest/Woodland
Circumneutral Rocky Summit/Rock Outcrop Community	Pitch Pine - Scrub Oak Community
Coastal Forest/Woodland	Red Oak - Sugar Maple Transition Forest
Cultural Grassland	Rich, Mesic Forest
Dry, Rich Oak Forest/Woodland	Ridgetop Heathland
Forest Seep Community	Ridgetop Pitch Pine - Scrub Oak Community
Hemlock Forest	Riverside Rock Outcrop Community
Hickory - Hop Hornbeam Forest/Woodland	Sandplain Grassland
High Elevation Spruce - Fir Forest/Woodland	Sandplain Grassland - Inland Variant
Maritime Beach Strand Community	Sandplain Heathland
Maritime Dune Community	Sandplain Heathland - Inland Variant
Maritime Erosional Cliff Community	Scrub Oak Shrubland
Maritime Forest/Woodland	Spruce - Fir - Northern Hardwoods Forest
Maritime Juniper Woodland/Shrubland	Successional Northern Hardwood Forest
Maritime Pitch Pine Woodland on Dunes	Successional White Pine Forest
Maritime Rock Cliff Community	Sugar Maple - Oak - Hickory Forest
Maritime Shrubland	White Pine - Oak Forest
Mixed Oak Forest/Woodland	Yellow Oak Dry Calcareous Forest

Terrestrial Communities (English, PDF 4.71 MB)

Palustrine communities are wetland communities where there is flooding or saturated soil conditions.

Acidic Graminoid Fen	Inland Atlantic White Cedar Swamp
Acidic Graminoid Fen - Spillway Fen	Interdunal Marsh/Swale
Acidic Pondshore/Lakeshore Community	Kettlehole Level Bog
Acidic Shrub Fen	Kettlehole Wet Meadow
Alluvial Atlantic White Cedar Swamp	Level Bog
Alluvial Hardwood Flat Community	Low-energy Riverbank Community
Alluvial Red Maple Swamp	Major-river Floodplain Forest
Atlantic White Cedar Bog	Northern Atlantic White Cedar Swamp
Black Gum - Pin Oak - Swamp White Oak Perched Swamp	Red Maple - Black Ash - Bur Oak Swamp
Calcareous Basin Fen	Red Maple - Black Ash - Tamarack Calcareous Seepage Swamp
Calcareous Pondshore/Lakeshore Community	Red Maple - Black Ash Swamp
Calcareous Seepage Marsh	Red Maple - Black Gum Swamp
Calcareous Sloping Fen	Red Maple Swamp
Coastal Atlantic White Cedar Swamp	Red Spruce Swamp
Coastal Plain Pondshore Community	Rich Conifer Swamp
Coastal Plain Pondshore Community - Inland Variant	River and Lake Drawdown Community
Cobble Bar Forest	Riverine Pointbar and Beach Community
Deep Emergent Marsh	Riverside Seep Community
Freshwater Mud Flat Community	Sea-level Fen
Hemlock Swamp	Shallow Emergent Marsh
Highbush Blueberry Thicket	Shrub Swamp
High-energy Riverbank Community	Small-river Floodplain Forest
High-energy Rivershore Meadow	Spruce - Tamarack Bog
High-terrace Floodplain Forest	Transitional Floodplain Forest
	Wet Meadow

Palustrine Communities (English, PDF 5.32 MB)

Estuarine communities are tidal wetlands with fresh to salt water.
Brackish Tidal Marsh	Marine Intertidal Gravel/Sand Beach Community
Coastal Salt Pond Community	Marine Intertidal Rocky Shore Community
Fresh/Brackish Tidal Shrubland	Salt Marsh
Fresh/Brackish Tidal Swamp	Seagrass Community
Freshwater Tidal Marsh

Estuarine Communities (English, PDF 1.43 MB)

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