Ecological dynamics

Loess Veneered Uplands
MLRA 122
Soil mapunits in this preliminary grouping: Dickson, Ironcity, Lax, Mountview, Sango.

Future ecological site description (ESD) development will likely result in mapunits being added and removed from this initial group.

Individual sites deserve a detailed understanding before conservation and restoration practices are implemented; therefore, it should be noted that 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. Therefore, 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 also 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 PES reference community was determined by information gathered from the National Soil Information System (NASIS), county soil surveys, and Glendon Smalley’s U.S. Forest Service technical report SO-43 entitled, “Classification and Evaluation of Forest Sites on the Eastern Highland Rim and Pennyroyal.”

Vegetation as listed in Official Soil Series Description (OSD):
Dickson: Most areas are cleared and used for growing hay, pasture, small grains, corn, soybeans, and tobacco. Some areas are in forest chiefly of oaks, yellow-poplar, hickories, gums, and maples.
Ironcity: Most areas of this soil are used for pasture and woodland. Some areas are used to produce corn and hay. The native vegetation was mixed hardwoods.
Lax: … used for growing corn, tobacco, small grains, soybeans, hay, and pasture. The remainder is in mixed hardwood forest consisting chiefly of oaks, hickories, and beech.
Mountview: Most areas are used for growing hay, pasture, small grains, cotton, corn, and tobacco. Some areas are in woodland consisting chiefly of oak, hickory, gum, and maple.
Sango: The native vegetation was forest of oaks, maples, and gums.

NRCS county soil surveys listed trees on site as predominately southern red oak and white oak. Chestnut oak, black oak, yellow poplar, hickories, and pines were also found.

NASIS data for these mapunit listed white oak, southern red oak, chestnut oak, tulip poplar, and pines.

The following information is from Glendon Smalley’s U.S. Forest Service technical report SO-43 entitled, “Classification and Evaluation of Forest Sites on the Eastern Highland Rim and Pennyroyal.”

Description of Landtype 2: Broad Ridges-North Aspect
Dominant soils include Mountview and Dickson
White oak, southern red oak, black oak, northern red oak, hickories, blackgum, shortleaf pine, and loblolly pine; occasional eastern redcedar, chestnut oak, post oak, yellow-poplar, red maple, black walnut, white ash, black cherry, and Virginia pine. Flowering dogwood, scarlet oak, sassafras, persimmon, vacciniums, and winged elm are common in the understory.

Description of Landtype 3: Broad Ridge South Aspect
Dominant soils include Mountview and Dickson
Southern red oak, scarlet oak, post oak, white oak, chestnut oak, hickories, blackgum, shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, and Virginia pine; Occasional species include black oak, red maple, yellow-poplar, and eastern redcedar. Sassafras, flowering dogwood, vacciniums, persimmon, and winged elm are common in the understory.

Description of Landtype 12: Broad Silty Uplands
Dominant soils include Mountview and Dickson
Southern red oak, post oak, scarlet oak, blackjack oak, hickories, white oak, and blackgum; occasional chestnut oak, black oak, eastern redcedar, black cherry, elms, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, loblolly pine, yellow-poplar, sweetgum, water oak, and red maple. Flowering dogwood, vacciniums, sourwood, sassafras, Carolina buckthorn, and winged elm are common in the understory.

Description of Landtype 18: Upland Flats, Depressions, and Sinkholes -Good Drainage
Dominant soils list included Sango.
White oak, black oak, hickories, red maple, northern red oak, sweetgum, yellow-poplar,
and elms; occasional black cherry, black walnut, white ash, sugar maple, American sycamore, southern red oak, scarlet oak, hackberry, sugarberry, American beech, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, and eastern redcedar. Dogwoods, euonymuses, vacciniums, sassafras, and elms are common in the understory.

Ecological Dynamics:
Only two tree species can be selected for entry into the ESIS/EDIT database as dominants; however, multiple tree species may be co-dominant on these sites and species distribution will vary depending on aspect, soil depth, seed sources, management, and disturbance history.

State 1. (Reference): Forestland
State 1, Phase 1.1: Plant species dominants:
white oak (Quercus alba) - southern red oak (Quercus falcata) / flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) / Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) – tick-trefoil (Desmodium spp.)

White oak and southern red oak are the two predominant trees found on site according to NRCS county soil surveys and NASIS.

State: 2. Pasture
State 2, Phase 2.1: Managed Pasture. Plant species dominants: Schedonorus arundinaceus (tall fescue)

Pasture plant species are dependent on seeding, weed control, concurrent land uses, on-going levels of disturbance, and landowner goals. Individual site and soil characteristics, along with management activities, will influence production levels.

Many species of grass, both warm and cool season, are available and suitable for these sites. Common forage species include tall fescue, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, Johnson grass, timothy, and various species of clover. Depending on levels of management, dozens of weed species may be present.

Management of pasture sites should follow conservation planning standards and protocols which include watershed protection, soil health, and adequate forage species.

Transitioning this state to a reference condition would require long-term timber stand improvement practices to control non-native vegetation and manage for desired hardwood species.

State: 3 – Transitional (Abandoned) Field
State 3, Phases 3.1: eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) – tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) / berries (Rubus spp.) / fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus)

Tree species regeneration on these sites will depend on the severity and duration of disturbance, adjacent plant communities (seed sources), post-disturbance management inputs, presence or absence of continued site disturbances, slope, and aspect. Other successional tree species may include red maple, hackberry, boxelder, white ash, elm, cottonwood, and locusts. A wide array of weed species and native forbs and herbs are possible depending upon seed sources.

Transitioning this state to a reference condition would require timber stand improvement practices.

State 4: Phase 4.1. Abandoned Croplands

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 and grasses would be predominate followed by perennial weeds, grasses, shrubs and finally, pioneers trees.

It would require years of management, plantings, and weed control to establish successional communities that could transition to a reference community.

State 5: Phase 5.1. Cropland
Phase 4.1: Plant species dominants: Zea spp. – Glycine spp.

Plants on these sites will be dependent upon seeding and management. Most common crops are corn and soybeans.

It would require years of management, plantings, and weed control to establish successional communities that could transition to a reference community.

TO VALIDATE THE INFORMATION IN THIS PROVISIONAL ECOLOGICAL SITE DESCRIPTION FUTURE FIELD WORK IS NEEDED. This will include detail field inspections and monitoring and multi-site data collection including medium to high intensity vegetation sampling, soil correlations, and an in-depth analysis of gathered data. A final field review, peer review, quality control, and quality assurance reviews of the ESD will be needed to produce a document to be utilized for accurate on-site conservation planning.