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Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F091XY011WI
Sandy Upland
Last updated: 9/27/2023
Accessed: 08/17/2024
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 Pine Barrens, Laurentian Oak Barrens, Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest, Laurentian-Acadian Northern Oak Forest, and Laurentian-Acadian Northern Pine Forest
Habitat Types of N. Wisconsin (Kotar, 2002): The sites of this ES keyed out to four habitat types: Pinus strobus-Quercus/Gaultheria-Ceanothus (PQGCe); Pinus strobus-Quercus/Gaultheria (PQG); Quercus/Amorpha (QAp); Pinus strobus-Acer rubrum/Vaccinium-Amphicarpa (PArVAm)
WDNR Natural Communities (WDNR, 2015): This ES is most similar to the Northern Dry-Mesic Forest and Northern Dry 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 Sandy Uplands ecological is the most widely distributed of the sandy upland sites in MLRA 91X. These sites are found on stream terraces, lake plains, and outwash plains. These sites are characterized by very deep, moderately well to well drained soils formed primarily in sandy outwash. Some sites formed in sandy lacustrine or have a thin loamy mantle. Precipitation and runoff from adjacent uplands are the primary sources of water. Soils range from very strongly acid to slightly acid.
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. Even though this ecological site is not an optimal site for White pine (Pinus strobus), it was, never the less, 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 (Populus tremuloides and P grandidentata) and several species of oak, e.g.: red (Quercus rubra), bur (Q. macrocarpa), white (Q. alba) and northern pin (Q ellipsoidalis). White pine pine is not yet well represented in most communities, but where seed source is present, it often occurs in the seedling and sapling layers. Red maple seedlings and saplings also are often present, but their growth rate is extremely slow and the species seldom attains tree-size.
Sandy Uplands sites are differentiated from other ecological sites based on sandy materials and drainage. These sites lack significant clay accumulation found in Alfic Sandy Uplands. Though these sites have a lower pH than loamy and clayey uplands, the pH is higher than Acidic Sandy Uplands. In addition to a lower pH, the sandy material has a lower available water capacity than loamy and clayey sites. The moderately well to well-drained soil differ Sandy Uplands from other sandy sites.
Associated sites
F091XY007WI |
Moist 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 much wetter and occur lower on the drainage sequence than 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 Sandy Uplands. |
F091XY015WI |
Dry Upland These sites formed in sandy outwash or eolian deposits. Soils are very deep, excessively drained, and lack a spodic horizon. They may occur higher on the drainage sequence than Sandy Uplands. |
Similar sites
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. Like Sandy Uplands, they are moderately well or well drained and occupy similar landscape positions but have finer particle size classes. This difference is reflected in the vegetative communities, with Loamy Uplands supporting communities with higher nutrient requirements. |
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F091XY015WI |
Dry Upland Like Sandy Uplands, these sites formed in deep sandy deposits and lack a spodic horizon but they are exclusively excessively drained. Both sites support vegetative communities that can tolerate very dry to dry, poor nutrient status conditions. |
F091XY004WI |
Terrace These sites occur on stream and strath terraces. They are defined by their landforms, not by particle size class or drainage class. These sites were once floodplains but are no longer subject to frequent flooding. Terrace sites with sandy textures and good drainage will support vegetative communities similar to those of Sandy Uplands. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus rubra |
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Shrub |
(1) Corylus |
Herbaceous |
(1) Pteridium aquilinum |
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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2.1A | - | White pine regeneration in mixed stand of white, red, and sometimes Jack pine. |
2.2A | - | White pine seeding in from natural seed source or under-planted. |
2.2B | - | White pine seeding in from natural seed source or under-planted. |
2.3A | - | White pine seeding in from natural seed source or under-planted. |
2.4A | - | White pine seeding in from natural seed source or under-planted. |
2.6B | - | 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 |