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Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F134XY302LA
West Central Swales/Depressions Wet Flats - PROVISIONAL
Accessed: 08/17/2024
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 central western part of the MLRA in Louisiana and Arkansas. It is in the Macon Ridge Section of the EPA Ecoregions in sub-section 73j. 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. This portion of the MLRA is distinct from other portions of the MLRA because of the influences of the Mississippi River and it series of entrenchments and adjacent old channels of the Arkansas River, such channels as Bayou Bartholomew, Bayou Bonnne Idee, Boeuf River, and segments of the Ouachita River. The Macon Ridge has been inhabited prior to European Settlement, Poverty Point is located on the east central portion of the Macon Ridge and has earthworks dating back to 1700-1100 BC.
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)
Ecological site concept
The site is nearly level thin loess, less than 4ft thick, potentially reworked loess by water. The site is poorly drained, rarely to occasionally flooded. Found on broad flats, drainage ways and depressional areas on terraces of the Macon Ridge likely overlaying clayey braided stream materials. Chemical properties of the soil are potentially acid while the subsoil is potentially high in Na (Sodium). Community species would have a range of wetness tolerance from Willow oak which is commonly found up to less abundant Water oak in the driest areas of the site.
Associated sites
F134XY301LA |
West Central Flooded Swales And Depressions And Flood Plains - PROVISIONAL The "West Central Flooded Swales And Depressions And Flood Plains - PROVISIONAL" site is similar but will be found at lower local elevations. |
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F134XY303LA |
West Central Natric Loess Terrace - PROVISIONAL The "West Central Natric Loess Terrace - PROVISIONAL" site is in a similar landscape position however the sodium in the soil differentiates the sites. |
Similar sites
F134XY301LA |
West Central Flooded Swales And Depressions And Flood Plains - PROVISIONAL The "West Central Flooded Swales And Depressions And Flood Plains - PROVISIONAL" site is similar but will be found at lower local elevations. |
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F134XY303LA |
West Central Natric Loess Terrace - PROVISIONAL The "West Central Natric Loess Terrace - PROVISIONAL" site is in a similar landscape position however the sodium in the soil differentiates the sites. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
Not specified |
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Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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