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Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site R010XA042ID
Loamy Bottom 12-16 PZ LECI4
Last updated: 12/13/2023
Accessed: 08/16/2024
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): 010X–Central Rocky and Blue Mountain Foothills
This MLRA is characterized by gently rolling to steep hills, plateaus, and low mountains at the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Oregon and the Central Rocky Mountains in Idaho. The geology of this area is highly varied and ranges from Holocene volcanics to Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. Mollisols are the dominant soil order and the soil climate is typified by mesic or frigid soil temperature regimes, and xeric or aridic soil moisture regimes. Elevation ranges from 1,300 to 6,600 feet (395 to 2,010 meters), increasing from west to east. The climate is characterized by dry summers and snow dominated winters with precipitation averaging 8 to 16 inches (205 to 405 millimeters) and increasing from west to east. These factors support plant communities with shrub-grass associations with considerable acreage of sagebrush grassland. Big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Idaho fescue are the dominant species. Stiff sagebrush, low sagebrush, and Sandberg bluegrass are often dominant on sites with shallow restrictive layers. Western juniper is one of the few common tree species and since European settlement has greatly expanded its extent in Oregon. Nearly half of the MLRA is federally owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Most of the area is used for livestock grazing with areas accessible by irrigation often used for irrigated agriculture.
For further information, see "Land Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin (U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook 296, 2006)" available online at: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/?cid=nrcs142p2_053624
Classification relationships
None.
Ecological site concept
• Site occurs on bottomlands
• Slopes less than 8%
• Water table usually not present
Associated sites
R010XA004ID |
Loamy 12-16 PZ ARTRV/FEID-PSSPS Adjacent meadows at higher landscape positions relative to water sources |
---|---|
R010XA027ID |
Meadow DECA18-CANE2 Adjacent meadows at lower landscape positions relative to water sources |
R010XA028ID |
Dry Meadow 8-15 PZ PONE3-PHAL2 Adjacent meadows at lower landscape positions relative to water sources |
Similar sites
R010XA028ID |
Dry Meadow 8-15 PZ PONE3-PHAL2 Water at or near the surface at beginning of the growing season and greater than 40 inches at the end of the growing season |
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Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
Not specified |
---|---|
Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
(1) Leymus cinereus |
Click on box and path labels to scroll to the respective text.
Ecosystem states
T1A | - | improper grazing management, fire |
---|---|---|
T2A | - | Pest management, brush management, range seeding |
State 1 submodel, plant communities
1.1A | - | Fire |
---|---|---|
1.1B | - | Improper grazing management, no fire |
1.2A | - | No fire |
1.2B | - | Improper grazing management, no fire |
1.3A | - | Prescribed grazing |
1.3B | - | Prescribed grazing, fire |