Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F121XY021KY
Loess Capped Upland
Last updated: 10/01/2024
Accessed: 12/22/2024
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): 121X–Kentucky Bluegrass
General: MLRA 121 is in Kentucky (83 percent), southern Ohio (11 percent), and southern Indiana (6 percent). It makes up about 10,680 square miles (27,670 square kilometers). The cities of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington, Kentucky, are in this area.
Physiography: This area is primarily in the Lexington Plain Section of the Interior Low Plateaus Province of the Interior Plains.
Soils: The dominant soil orders in MLRA 121 are Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Mollisols. The soils in the area dominantly have a mesic soil temperature regime, an udic soil moisture regime, and mixed mineralogy. They are shallow to very deep, generally well-drained, and loamy or clayey. Hapludalfs formed in residuum on hills and ridges (Beasley, Cynthiana, Eden, Faywood, Lowell, and McAfee series) and in loess over residuum on hills and ridges (Carmel and Shelbyville series). Paleudalfs (Crider and Maury series) formed in loess or other silty sediments over residuum on hills and ridges. Fragiudalfs (Nicholson series) formed in loess over residuum on ridges. Hapludolls formed in residuum on hills and ridges (Fairmount series) and in alluvium on floodplains (Huntington series). Eutrudepts (Nolin series) formed in alluvium on flood plains.
Geology: Most of this area has an Ordovician-age limestone that has been brought to the surface in the Jessamine Dome, a high part of a much larger structure called the Cincinnati Arch. The strata of limestone have a propensity to form caves and karst topography. Younger units of thin-bedded shale, siltstone, and limestone occur at the eastern and western edges of the area.
The area has no coal-bearing units. Pleistocene-age loess deposits cover most of the bedrock units in this MLRA, and some glacial lake sediments are at the surface in the northwest corner of the area. Unconsolidated alluvium is deposited in the river valleys.
Classification relationships
Deep Soil Mesophytic Forest syn = western mesophytic forest (in part), mesic upland forest, typic mesophytic forest (Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, 2009)
Interior Highlands Dry to Mesic oak Forests and Woodlands (Plant communities of the Midwest)
Calcareous Mesophytic Forest, (Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission)
Ecological site concept
The Loess Capped Upland ecological site includes soils capped with loess on uplands. Representative soils include: Cincinnati, Crider, Jessup, Switzerland.
State 1, Phase 1.1: Plant species dominants: Quercus alba-Quercus rubra/Lindera benzoin/Podophyllum peltatum-Parthenocissus quinquefolia
(white oak- red oak/ spicebush / mayapple- Virginia creeper)
State 1, Phase 1.2: Plant species dominants: Acer saccharum.-Quercus spp. / Lindera benzoin /Podophyllum peltatum-Parthenocissus quinquefolia
The majority of these sites within MLRA 121 are now utilized as pasture or cropland, so high quality forested reference communities are extremely rare.
State: 2. Pasture
State 2, Phase 2.1: Managed Pasture. Plant species dominants: Schedonorus arundinaceus (tall fescue)
State 2, Phase 2.2: Minimally Managed Pasture. Plant species dominants: Rosa multiflora- Rubus spp. /Schedonorus arundinaceus
State 2, Phase 2.3: Warm season pasture. This sites are very suitable for the development of warm season pastures for forage production or wildlife habitat. Species composition is dependent upon seeding and management.
State 3, Phase 31: Plant species dominants: eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)/ tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus)-giant ironweed (Vernonia gigantean)
State: 4. Honeysuckle Invaded Woodland
State 4, Phase 4.1: Plant species dominants: Acer saccharum- Celtis occidentalis / Lonicera maackii.
This state is characterized by a dense understory of Lonicera spp. (usually L. maackii in MLRA 121) which fundamentally alters the native plant communities due to shade and competition. Long-term, multi-year control efforts are required to control this aggressive non-native plant and restore native woodlands.
State: 5. Cropland
State 5, Phase 5.1: Plant species dominants: dependent upon seeding and management. Most common crops are corn and soybeans.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Quercus alba |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
(1) Lindera benzoin |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Podophyllum peltatum |
Click on box and path labels to scroll to the respective text.