Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F134XY101MS
Southern Rolling Plains Loess Drainways - PROVISIONAL
Accessed: 12/06/2024
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): 134X–Southern Mississippi Valley Loess
MLRA 134, Southern Mississippi Valley Loess, is in Mississippi (39 percent), Tennessee (23 percent), Louisiana (15 percent), Arkansas (11 percent), Kentucky (9 percent), Missouri (2 percent), and Illinois (1 percent). It makes up about 26,520 square miles (68,715 square kilometers). The northern part of the area includes Paducah and Murray, Kentucky; Paragould, Jonesboro, and Forrest City, Arkansas; and Memphis, Dyersburg, Bartlett, and Germantown, Tennessee. The southern part includes Yazoo City, Clinton, and Jackson, Mississippi, and Baton Rouge, Opelousas, Lafayette, and New Iberia, Louisiana. This portion is the farthest southeast part of the MLRA in Louisiana. It is in the Mississippi Valley Loess Plains Section of the EPA Ecoregions in sub-section 74c, Southern rolling Plains. The dissected plains in this MLRA have a loess mantle that is thick at the valley wall and thins rapidly as distance from the valley wall increases. Although less dissected than the Bluff Hills (74a), the region has more irregular and dissected topography than adjacent 74b to the north in Mississippi. The historic forests contained shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, and upland oaks and hickories. Pine is naturally more prevalent here than in 74a and 74b. Land cover now is mostly mixed pine-hardwood forest, pine plantations, pasture, and cropland. The eastern boundary of this region is broad, with a gradual transition to the southern Coastal Plains.
Classification relationships
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) and Land Resource Unit (LRU) (USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2006)
EPA Level IV Ecoregion
The Natural Communities of Louisiana - (Louisiana Natural Heritage Program - Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries) - Small Stream Forest
Ecological site concept
Wetland forests occurring along small rivers and large creeks, seasonally flooded for brief periods. Deep to Very Deep, Poorly to Somewhat Poorly Drained, Moderately Permeable soils formed in Loess or Silty Alluvium of Loess origin. Soil moisture is a major driver on this site. Level to nearly level rather wide flood plains and natural levees of streams that drain areas of the Southern Mississippi Valley Loess. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Areas on Flood Plains in level IV EPA Ecoregion 74c, Southern Rolling Plains of the Mississippi Valley Loess Plains.
Associated sites
F134XY102MS |
Southern Rolling Plains Loess Stream Terrace - PROVISIONAL 134XY102 - Southern Rolling Plains Loess Stream Terrace is found at the next higher elevation from this site. |
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Similar sites
F134XY121LA |
Baton Rouge Terrace Southern Loess Drainageway - PROVISIONAL 134XY121 - Baton Rouge Terrace Southern Loess Drainways fits a similar site position on the landscape, however is found in the Baton Rouge Terrace Portion of the MLRA to the south of this site. |
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Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
Not specified |
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Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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