Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F091XY009WI
Alfic Sandy Upland
Last updated: 9/27/2023
Accessed: 11/21/2024
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): 091X–Wisconsin and Minnesota Sandy Outwash
The Wisconsin and Minnesota Sandy Outwash MLRA is the most extensive glacial outwash system in the northern half of Wisconsin. The total land area of the Wisconsin portion is just under 1.4 million acres (2,170 sq miles). The northern half is a former spillway for Glacial Lake Duluth. The flowing meltwater from the draining lake has left behind thick deposits of drift and carved a terraced river valley now occupied by the St. Croix and Bois Brule Rivers.
The northeastern section – the Bayfield hills – is a collapsed outwash plain where drift deposits are thick. Lacustrine materials from Glacial Lake Duluth line the northeastern tip. Moving southwest, the landscape transitions into a large pitted outwash plain. This is an area of extensive kettle holes, and, where the underlying till is less permeable, kettle lakes with some interspersed morainic hills and ridges. The glacial drift deposits are thinner in the southwestern section, although there is still no documented surface bedrock within this MLRA.
The St. Croix and Bois Brule rivers share a channel that lines much of the northwestern border of this MLRA. In some places, the underlying reddish-brown sandy loam till of the Copper Falls Formation is exposed along cut riverbanks, though most of it is covered by a mantle of outwash. Glacial lakes deposited pockets of fine-textured lacustrine materials, most of which were washed away or buried by glacial outwash and meltwater flowing through the channel. East of the channel, some of the silty and clayey lakebed deposits are found near the surface, where they impede drainage and contribute to the formation of extensive wetlands.
Historically, the area supported extensive jack pine (Pinus banksiana), scrub, and oak forests and barrens. The northern portion also supported stands of red pine (Pinus resinosa) and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) as well. Marsh and sedge meadow, wet prairies, and lowland shrubs dominated the extensive wetland complexes in the southern tip of this MLRA (Finley, R., 1976).
Classification relationships
Relationship to Established Framework and Classification Systems:
Biophysical Settings (Landfire, 2014): This ES is largely mapped as Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest, Boreal Aspen-Birch Forest, Laurentian Oak Barrens, Boreal Hardwood Forest, and Eastern Cool Temperate Pasture and Hayland
Habitat Types of N. Wisconsin (Kotar, 2002): The sites of this ES keyed out to one habitat type: Pinus strobus-Acer rubrum/Vaccinium-Amphicarpa (PArVAm)
WDNR Natural Communities (WDNR, 2015): This ES is most similar to the Northern Mesic Forest and Northern Dry-Mesic Forest communities.
Hierarchical Framework Relationships:
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): Wisconsin and Minnesota Sandy Outwash (91X)
USFS Subregions: Bayfield Sand Plains (212Ka)
Small sections occur in the Mille Lacs Uplands (212Kb) subregion
Wisconsin DNR Ecological Landscapes: Northwest Sands, Northwest Lowlands
Ecological site concept
The Alfic Sandy Uplands ecological site is located throughout MLRA 91X on till, lake, and outwash plains, and on ground moraines. These sites are characterized by very deep, moderately well or well drained soils that formed in sandy till. These sites have a layer of significant clay accumulation: an argillic horizon is either present or forming. Precipitation and runoff from adjacent uplands are the primary sources of water. Soils range from strongly acid to slightly acid. These sites occur in higher landscape positions, sometimes where somewhat loamy morainal deposits protrude from the expansive outwash plain that makes up MLRA 91B. The presence of finer-textured parent materials allows the soils of Alfic Sandy Uplands to develop their characteristic argillic horizons.
Historically this Ecological Site was occupied by forest communities dominated by various mixtures of pine and oak species. Specific mixtures were largely dependent on frequency and severity of disturbances, particularly fire and subsequent seed-bed conditions and availability of seed sources. White pine (Pinus strobus) was the most persistent species in forest communities due to its biological and ecological characteristics of great longevity, resistance of old trees to fire damage and moderate tolerance to shade by seedlings and saplings. Red oak was often present as an associate species. Virtually all stands on this Ecological Site were harvested during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and post-logging fires were almost universal. Today’s forests are dominated by any mixture of, aspen, red maple (Acer rubrum), red oak (Quercus rubra), white oak (Q. alba), white pine (Pinus strobus) and red pine (Pinus resinosa). White birch (Betula papyrifera) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) are common associates.
Alfic Sandy Uplands is differentiated from other ecological sites based on sandy deposits, drainage, and presence of accumulated clay in a subsurface horizon. The clay accumulation in the subsurface horizon may perch water and make it accessible to vegetation for longer than other sandy upland soils. The sandy material tends to have lower pH and available water capacity than loamy and clayey materials. The moderately well and well drained soil differs these sites from other sandy sites.
Associated sites
F091XY005WI |
Wet Sandy and Loamy Lowland These sites occur on depressions and drainageways on outwash plains and lake plains. They primarily form in sandy outwash are subject to some flooding. Soils are very deep and poorly or very poorly drained. They are saturated for much of the year. They are wetter and occur lower on the drainage sequence than Alfic Sandy Uplands. |
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F091XY007WI |
Moist Sandy and Loamy Lowland These soils formed in sandy outwash, sandy lacustrine deposits, sandy eolian deposits, or loess that is sometimes underlain by sandy or loamy till. Soils are very deep and somewhat poorly drained. They are wetter and occur lower on the drainage sequence than Alfic Sandy Uplands. |
F091XY011WI |
Sandy Upland These soils formed primarily in sandy outwash or sandy eolian deposits, but some sites formed in sandy lacustrine or loamy alluvium underlain by sandy outwash. Soils are very deep and are moderately well to somewhat excessively drained. They are neutral to extremely acid and lack a spodic horizon. They may be found in similar landscape positions adjacent to Alfic Sandy Uplands. |
Similar sites
F091XY010WI |
Acidic Sandy Upland These soils formed primarily sandy outwash, but some sites formed in loamy alluvium over sandy outwash, and other sites are sandy outwash underlain by lacustrine deposits. Soils are very deep and are moderately well to somewhat excessively drained. These soils occupy the same positions on the landscape and have the same particle size class as Alfic Sandy Uplands but differ in that they are characterized by the presence of a spodic horizon. |
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F091XY011WI |
Sandy Upland These soils formed primarily in sandy outwash or sandy eolian deposits, but some sites formed in sandy lacustrine or loamy alluvium underlain by sandy outwash. Soils are very deep and are moderately well to somewhat excessively drained. They are neutral to extremely acid and lack a spodic horizon. These soils occupy the same positions on the landscape and have the same particle size class as Alfic Sandy Uplands but differ in that they lack significant clay accumulation. |
F091XY012WI |
Loamy Upland These soils formed in loamy lacustrine, loamy alluvium, loamy till, sandy outwash, sandy eolian, or loess deposits. Some sites have underlying lacustrine deposits, till, or basalt bedrock. They are moderately well or well drained. These soils occupy the same landscape positions as Alfic Sandy Uplands but have finer particle size classes. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus rubra |
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Shrub |
(1) Vaccinium |
Herbaceous |
(1) Amphicarpaea bracteata |
Click on box and path labels to scroll to the respective text.
Ecosystem states
T1A | - | Stand replacing disturbance e.g., blow-down and fire, or clear-cutting followed by fire. Regeneration by natural seeding or planting. |
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R2A | - | Fire control, time, natural succession. |
T2A | - | Grazing by livestock. Disruption of tree regeneration and ground vegetation. |
T2B | - | Removal of natural vegetation, plowing, fertilizing, irrigating, planting agricultural crops. |
R3A | - | Removal of livestock from stands. |
T3A | - | Removal of natural vegetation, plowing, fertilizing, irrigating, planting agricultural crops. |
State 1 submodel, plant communities
1.1A | - | Light to moderate intensity fires, reducing or eliminating advance tree regeneration. |
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1.2A | - | White pine and red oak regeneration re-establishes. |
State 2 submodel, plant communities
Communities 1, 5 and 2 (additional pathways)
2.1B | - | Removal of White Pine |
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2.5B | - | Time without disturbance, natural succession |
2.5C | - | This pathway occurs with fire when Jack pine seed sources is available or when planted. |
2.5A | - | Repetitive clearcutting and burning of earlier stands |