Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F088XY008MN
Wet Mixed Forest
Last updated: 8/12/2024
Accessed: 11/13/2024
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:
MHn44 Northern Wet-Mesic Boreal Hardwood- Conifer Forest
Ecological site concept
Wet Mixed Forests typically occur on flats on the edge of uplands grading to very poorly drained peatland soils. These sites typically exist on poorly drained loamy and occasionally sandy glaciolacustrine deposits and till plains. Wet Mixed Forest sites receive runoff from adjacent sites and are subject to occasional ponding.
Associated sites
| F088XY006MN |
Floodplain Forest Wet These sites occur on occasionally or annually flooded sites on terraces and floodplains of streams and rivers. Soils consist of stratified alluvium which vary widely from silty to fine sandy soils on the occasionally flooded river terraces to coarser textured alluvium on the active floodplain 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. |
Similar sites
| F088XY015MN |
Loamy Upland Wet-Mesic Mixed Forest These sites occur on summit, shoulders and backslope hillslope positions on moraines and till plains. These sites typically exist on soils with loamy textures of loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam or fine sandy loam within a depth of 50 centimeters. The underlying parent material is generally medium textured till, sandy loam till or stratified materials with generally less than 35 percent rock fragments within a depth of 100 centimeters. |
|---|
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Populus tremuloides |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
(1) Corylus cornuta |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Maianthemum canadense |
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Ecosystem states
| T1A | - | Mechanical removal of tree species for timber harvest. |
|---|
State 1 submodel, plant communities
| 1.1A | - | Lack of fire/blow downs (35-95 years) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2A | - | Increased low intensity fire frequency and blow downs (<35 years) |
| 1.2B | - | Lack of fire/blow downs (95-195 years) |
| 1.3B | - | Stand replacing fire |
| 1.3A | - | Increased low intensity fire frequency and blow downs (<95 years) |
State 2 submodel, plant communities
| 2.1A | - | Planting of desired species and herbicide use. |
|---|---|---|
| 2.2A | - | Harvest of tree species upon desired growth stage. |