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 Moderately Deep Siltstone-Shale Uplands ecological site is located on hills and knobs within 120C. Representative soils include: Gilpin, Gilwood, Gnawbone.

The communities described in this provisional document reflect plant communities that are likely to be found on these soils 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, 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)


Aspect, topography, and soil depth will influence the gradient of these communities on single mapunits. The herb dominance may be quite variable depending on aspect.

Forest:
1.1 chestnut oak (Q. prinus) - white oak (Q. alba) / blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) - round leaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia) / poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) - common dittany (Cunila origanoides)

Dominant trees include white oak and chestnut oak. Typical associates include black oak, scarlet oak, pignut hickory, shagbark hickory and on exposed south ridges and shallower south slopes, post oak.

Mid-canopy trees include red maple, sassafras, flowering dogwood, ironwood, witch hazel, and winged elm.

The shrub layer includes Vaccinium species along with roundleaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia). Carolina rose (Rosa carolina) may be on some sites.

Herbaceous species likely include Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus quinquefolia plus Aristolochia serpentaria, Desmodium spp., Botrychium virginiana, Carex picta, Carex cephalophora, Carex artitecta, Cardamine angustata, Cunila origanoides, Galium circaezans, Panicum dichotomum, Polygonatum biflora, Potentilla simplex, Smilacina racemosa, Viola triloba, and Viburnum acerifolium.

Located on south and southwestern aspects, these soils may include dry upland species such as post oak, eastern red cedar, black jack oak, ironwood, flowering dogwood, winged elm, southern blackhaw, farkleberry, shining sumac, and hawthorn.

Pasture (lower slopes only):
State 2, Phase 2.1. Plant species dominants: Schedonorus arundinaceus (tall fescue). Species present are dependent upon seeding and management.

Transitional Field (lower slopes only):
State 3, Phase 3.1 eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) / blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)/ broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus)
This phase is best described as an old field habitat with a mixture of native and introduced grasses, herbs, forbs, seedlings, and saplings.

Cropland was not included in the state and transition model due to the slope of most of the sites included in this grouping.

Associated sites

Table 1. Dominant plant species