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): 120C–Kentucky and Indiana Sandstone and Shale Hills and Valleys, Northeastern Part

120C—Kentucky and Indiana Sandstone and Shale Hills and Valleys, Northeastern Part
This area is entirely in Indiana and makes up about 1,050 square miles (2,725 square kilometers).
Physiography: This area is in the Highland Rim Section of the Interior Low Plateaus Province of the Interior Plains. Both large and small tributaries of the Ohio River and the East Fork of the White River dissect the nearly level to very steep uplands in the area. The major streams and rivers have well defined valleys with broad flood plains and numerous stream terraces. The flood plains along the smaller streams are narrow. Summits are narrow and are nearly level to gently sloping.
Geology: The geologic materials in this area are of Early and Middle Pennsylvanian and Late Mississippian age. The rocks consist mainly of flat-lying, interbedded sandstone, shale, coal, and siltstone with minor areas of limestone. Bedrock outcrops are common on the bluffs along the Ohio River and its major tributaries. The surficial geologic materials consist mainly of a layer of loess, typically less than 3.5 feet (1 meter) thick, on the less eroded parts of the landscape and stratified sediments of Pleistocene age along the Ohio River and its tributaries. Unconsolidated alluvium is deposited in the river valleys.
Soils: The dominant soil orders in this MLRA are Alfisols, Ultisols, and Inceptisols. The soils in the area have a mesic soil temperature regime, an udic or aquic soil moisture regime, and dominantly mixed mineralogy. They formed dominantly in loess and in residuum derived from siltstone and shale. They range from moderately deep to very deep and from somewhat poorly drained to well drained and are loamy, silty, or clayey. Fragiudults (Spickert and Tilsit series) and Hapludults (Wrays series) are the dominant soils on ridgetops and the upper parts of hills and knobs. Halpudalfs (Kurtz series), Hapludults (Gilwood and Gnawbone series), and Dystrudepts (Brownstown series) are on moderately sloping to very steep side slopes. Hapludalfs (Coolville, Rarden, Stonehead, and Wellrock series) are on the gently sloping to moderately steep lower parts of side slopes. Hapludalfs (Elkinsville series), Fragiudalfs (Pekin series), and Fragiaqualfs (Bartle series) are on stream terraces. Dystrudepts (Beanblossom, Cuba, and Steff series) and Endoaquepts (Stendal series) are on flood plains.

Classification relationships

NatureServe Ecological System, Scientific Name: Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest, Unique Identifier: CES202.898

Ecological site concept

The Fragipan Uplands ecological sites are consist of soils with fragipans. Representative soils include: Spickert, Zanesville, Pekin.

The communities described in this provisional document reflect those likely to be found and have not been field verified. This PES describes hypotheses based on available data of many different scales and sources and has not been developed utilizing site-specific ecological field monitoring. This PES does not encompass the entire complexity or diversity of these sites. Field studies would be required to develop a comprehensive and science-based native plant restoration plan for these sites.

The hypotheses below were developed utilizing multiple data sources including NatureServe Explorer, VegBank.org data, Plant Communities of the Midwest – Indiana Subset, Indiana DNR, The Nature Conservancy, and Purdue University data for the Hoosier National Forest. (Andriy Vladimirovich Zhalnin and George R. Parker, 2007, Delineation and spatial analysis of ecological classification units for the Hoosier National Forest in Southern Indiana)

State 1, Phase 1.1. white oak (Q. alba) – black oak (Quercus velutina) / blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)- mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) / mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)- licorice bedstraw (Galium circaezans).

Dominant trees in this community include white oak, sugar maple, and black oak. Other species present may include northern red oak, scarlet oak, chinquapin oak, chestnut oak, pignut hickory. Minor canopy trees include blackgum, sassafras, red maple and white ash. Subcanopy trees dominant are American beech, sugar maple and red maple.

The herb layer is diverse with a variable composition; however, understory plants on these sites may include nakedflower ticktrefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum), dogtooth violet (Erythronium americanum), Bosc’s panicgrass (Panicum boscii), rattlesnake fern (Botrychium virginianum), star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), and American alumroot (Heuchera americana). Species of the Arisaema group may be present.

More mesic inclusions may include common blue violet (Viola sororia), Impatiens spp., Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) and mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum).

State 2, Phase 2.1: Pasture. Plant species dominant: Schedonorus arundinaceus (tall fescue. Species present are dependent upon seeding and management. State: 3. Transitional (Abandoned) Field

State 3, Phase 3.1:
Plant species dominant: eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) / berries (Rubus spp.) – sumac ( Rhus spp.) /fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus)
This phase is best described as an old field habitat with a mixture of native and introduced grasses and a variety of native and non-native herbs, forbs, seedlings, and saplings.

State 4 Old Pioneer Cropland (lower slopes only)
Phase 4.1: Old (Abandoned) Cropfield. Plant species dominant: henbit deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule) – mouse-eared chickweed (Cerastium L. )
Abandonment of cropland would result in many weed species taking over the site. Initially, annual weeds would be predominate followed by a variety of native and non-native grasses, shrubs and trees.

State: 5. Cropland (lower slopes only)
Phase 5.1: Plant species dominant: dependent upon seeding and management. Most common crops are corn and soybeans.

Restoration of states 2-5 to the reference community would require long-term, intensive management inputs.

Table 1. Dominant plant species