Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F088XY006MN
Floodplain Forest Wet
Last updated: 8/12/2024
Accessed: 11/23/2024
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): 088X–Northern Minnesota Glacial Lake Basins
MLRA 88 consists of the lake beds of glacial Lakes Agassiz, Upham, and Aitkin. These vast glacial lake beds were formed by meltwaters associated with the last glaciation of the Wisconsin age. The large, flat, wet landscapes are filled with lacustrine lake sediments, wave-washed glacial till, and vast expanses of organic soils. This area is entirely in Minnesota and makes up about 11,590 square miles (30,019 square kilometers).
The western boundary of MLRA 88 with MLRA 56B is gradual. MLRA 56B is a portion of the Red River Valley that was formed by glacial Lake Agassiz and is dominantly prairie. The southern boundary of MLRA 88 with MLRA 57 consists of distinct moraines that formed from the glacial drift sediments of Late Wisconsin age. The eastern and southeastern boundaries are with portions of MLRAs 90A and 93A. These MLRAs are in a distinct glaciated region of sediments of the Rainy and Superior Lobes, and much of MLRA 93A is bedrock controlled (USDA-Ag Handbook 296, 2022).
Classification relationships
MN DNR Native Plant Community (MN DNR, 2003); the reference community of this Provisional Ecological Site is most similar to:
FFn57 Northern Terrace Forest
FFn67 Northern Floodplain Forest
Ecological site concept
Flood Plain Forest sites are present on occasionally or annually flooded sites on flats and floodplains of streams and rivers. Soils consist of stratified alluvium which vary widely from silty clay to fine sandy loam soils on the occasionally flooded river terraces to coarser textured alluvium on the active floodplain sites.
Associated sites
| F088XY008MN |
Wet Mixed Forest These sites occur on footslope and toeslope hillslope positions, drainageways surrounded by uplands or on the edge of uplands grading to very poorly drained peatland soils. These sites typically exist on loamy and occasionally sandy moraines and till plains. |
|---|---|
| F088XY007MN |
Wet Depressional Forest These sites occur in shallow wetland basins, closed depressions and along drainage ways, and are generally in narrow transition zones between mineral uplands and peatlands. Soil surface layers are typically mucky-modified surface textures or muck less than 8” thick over variable parent materials. |
Similar sites
| F088XY007MN |
Wet Depressional Forest These sites occur in shallow wetland basins, closed depressions and along drainage ways, and are generally in narrow transition zones between mineral uplands and peatlands. Soil surface layers are typically mucky-modified surface textures or muck less than 8” thick over variable parent materials. |
|---|---|
| F088XY008MN |
Wet Mixed Forest These sites occur on footslope and toeslope hillslope positions, drainageways surrounded by uplands or on the edge of uplands grading to very poorly drained peatland soils. These sites typically exist on loamy and occasionally sandy moraines and till plains. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Fraxinus nigra |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
(1) Prunus virginiana |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Laportea canadensis |
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Ecosystem states
| T1.A | - | Mechanical removing of timber. |
|---|
State 1 submodel, plant communities
| 1.1A | - | Prolonged drought and infrequent flooding. |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2A | - | Excessive flooding or extreme weather events |