Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site R111XE401OH
Wet Outwash Mollisol
Last updated: 9/11/2024
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): 111X–Indiana and Ohio Till Plain
111E – Indiana and Ohio Till Plain, Eastern Part. Most of this area is in the Till Plains Section of the Central Lowlands Province of the Interior Plains. The northeast tip of the area is in the Southern New York Section of the Appalachian Highlands. The entire area has been glaciated. It is dominated by ground moraines that are broken in places by kames, lake plains, outwash plains, terraces, and stream valleys. Narrow, shallow valleys commonly are along the few large streams in the area. Elevation ranges from 580 to 1,400 feet (175 to 425 meters), increasing gradually from west to east. Relief is mainly a few meters, but in some areas hills rise as much as 100 feet (30 meters) above the adjoining plain.
The extent of the major Hydrologic Unit Areas (identified by four-digit numbers) that make up this MLRA is as follows: Scioto (0506), 33 percent; Muskingum (0504), 31 percent; and Western Lake Erie (0410), 28 percent; Upper Ohio (0503), 5 percent; and Southern Lake Erie (0411), 3 percent. The headwaters of many rivers in central Ohio, including the Vermillion, Black Fork, Sandusky, Little Scioto, and Olentangy Rivers, are in this MLRA.
This MLRA is underlain by late Devonian shale and sandstone. Surficial materials include glacial deposits of till, glaciolacustrine sediments, and outwash from Wisconsin and older glacial periods.
Classification relationships
Major Land Resource Area (USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2006)
USFS Ecological Regions (USDA, 2007):
Sections –Central Till Plains, Beech Maple (222H), Western Glaciated Allegheny Plateau (221F)
Subsections – Allegheny Plateau (221Fa), Bluffton Till Plains (222Ha), Miami-Scioto Plain – Tipton Till Plain (222Hb)
NatureServe Systems anticipated (NatureServe, 2011): Agriculture - Cultivated Crops and Irrigated Agriculture, Agriculture – Pasture/Hay, North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest, North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland, North-Central Interior Floodplain
LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings anticipated (USGS, 2010): Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems, North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest, North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland
Ecological site concept
This site is an upland site formed on glacial outwash parent materials in soils that are very poorly, poorly, or somewhat poorly drained. The soils surface color is dark (3/2 Munsell or darker) and extends beyond 10 inches, making them taxonomically mollisols. This site is found on flat portions (slope 0-2%) on outwash plains and terraces. Similarly, ponding of water to a depth of 15 inches occurs frequently for a range of duration between 2 and 30 days.
The characteristic vegetation of this site is of a tall-grass prairie that is dominated by prairie cordgrass, big bluestem, and a variety of sedge species. The combination of accumulation of organic material and seasonal changes in water which led to an increased probability of fire limited the encroachment of woody species. Fires occurred on this site every 5 years or less with the ignitions being a mix of lightning strikes and those set by Native Americans. During the dormant season, these fires were less frequent and of lower intensity and size than those that occurred during the growing season. Grazing by ungulates had an effect on the production and species diversity of this site, but the magnitude of the impact was less than that for prairies farther west. Reduction, or in most cases elimination, of fire as converted the site that of a woodland or forest dominated primarily by oak and hickory species. The understory would contain many of the prairie species until the canopy closed. Woody understory species would include sassafras, some willows, and dogwood species. Currently, most of this site is in agricultural production, with the majority being used to raise corn and soybeans after the installation of drainage, followed by tillage, and management.
Associated sites
| R111XE402OH |
Dry Outwash Mollisol Soils are somewhat poorly drained or dried |
|---|---|
| F111XE403OH |
Outwash Upland Soil surface is lighter in color and can is very poorly to somewhat poorly drained |
| F111XE404OH |
Dry Outwash Upland Soil surface is lighter in color and is moderately well drained or dried |
Similar sites
| R111XE402OH |
Dry Outwash Mollisol Soils are somewhat poorly drained or dried |
|---|---|
| R111XE001OH |
Mineral Muck Located on organic parent materials; located lower in the landscape. |
| R111XE002OH |
Limnic Muck Located on organic parent materials; located lower in the landscape. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
Not specified |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
Not specified |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Spartina pectinata |
Click on box and path labels to scroll to the respective text.