General information

Provisional. A provisional ecological site description has undergone quality control and quality assurance review. It contains a working state and transition model and enough information to identify the ecological site.

MLRA notes

Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): 006X–Cascade Mountains, Eastern Slope

Stretching from northern Washington to southern Oregon, MLRA6 encompasses the mountain slopes, foothills, elevated plateaus and valleys on the eastern slopes of the Cascade mountains. This MLRA is a transitional area between the Cascade Mountains to the west and the lower lying Columbia Basalt Plateau to the east. Situated in the rain shadow of the Cascade Crest, this MLRA receives less precipitation than portions of the cascades further west and greater precipitation than the basalt plateaus to the east. Geologically, the majority of the MLRA is dominated by Miocene volcanic rocks, while the northern portion is dominated by Pre-Cretaceous metamorphic rocks and the southern portion is blanketed with a thick mantle of ash and pumice from Mount Mazama. The soils in the MLRA dominantly have a mesic, frigid, or cryic soil temperature regime, a xeric soil moisture regime, and mixed or glassy mineralogy. They generally are moderately deep to very deep, well drained, and loamy or ashy. Biologically, the MLRA is dominated by coniferous forest, large expanses of which are dominated by ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir or lodgepole pine. Areas experiencing cooler and moister conditions include grand fir, white fir, and western larch while the highest elevations include pacific silver fir, subalpine fir and whitebark pine. Economically, timber harvest and recreation are important land uses in these forests. Historically, many of these forests would have experienced relatively frequent, low and mixed severity fire favoring the development of mature forests dominated by ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir. In the southern pumice plateau forests, less frequent, higher severity fire was common and promoted the growth of large expanses of lodgepole pine forests.

LRU notes

Located at the eastern edge of the Columbia river gorge, this unit is restricted to areas influenced by the modified maritime climate of this unique passageway through the Cascades. This setting allows for the persistence of Oregon White Oak woodlands east of the Cascade crest. These woodlands often include ponderosa pine, and on sites with greater soil moisture, Douglas-fir. Botanical diversity is high, with a mixture of West Cascade and East Cascade plant species commonly co-occurring. Physiographically, this unit is characterized by dissected foothills, valleys and ridges draining Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount Adams in Washington. Geologically, the unit is characterized by late tertiary pyroclastic and volcanoclastic deposits and basalt flows. The climate of this unit is generally warm and dry with a predominately xeric soil moisture regime and mesic soil temperature regime. Historically, the drier extent of these forests have been influenced by a fire regime whereby frequent low and mixed severity fires would have favored the development of open canopied forests. Higher elevations and more westerly locations receiving more moisture within this unit would have been influenced by moderately frequent, low and mixed severity fires favoring a mosaic of forest stages with closed canopy conditions common.

Ecological site concept

This site represents a forest community at the transition zone between the eastside foothills of the Oregon Cascades and the Columbia plateau. The Historical Reference Plant Community is that of a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) - Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest with an herbaceous understory dominated by elk sedge (Carex geyeri) and a shrub layer including antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and redstem ceanothus (Ceanothus sanguineus). In comparison to adjacent East Cascade foothill plant communities which are highly influenced by aspect, this site has deep, loamy soils and low slope angles which buffer the site from strong aspect influences. This site occurs within the higher end of the precipitation range (20 to 40 in) for Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) on the east slope of the Oregon cascades, and some white oak is often present within the stands. Compared to sites with deep soils on adjacent south slopes where Oregon white oak is often a dominant component of overstory composition, greater effective soil moisture allows Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine to outcompete oak over time. South aspect sites with shallower soils are dominated by perennial grasses with only occasional incidences of white oak or conifers.

This is a provisional ecological site and is subject to extensive review and revision before final approval. All data herein should be considered provisional and contingent upon field validation prior to use in conservation planning.

Associated sites

Similar sites

Table 1. Dominant plant species