Deep Moderately Well Drained Fine Loamy Acid Flatwoods Uplands

Description

Fire Dependent Forest are characterized by having predominantly blackjack oaks and shortleaf pines, with other oak and hickory species occurring to a lesser extent, interspaced by a herbaceous understory. This community was common on the acidic uplands of the Blackland Prairie before regular fire suppression and heavy land management. Blackjack oaks are highly resistant to fire and pines grow more rapidly than most hardwood species giving them an advantage over other tree species in areas experiencing common disturbance from fire. In the time since fire suppression has become more common the representation of this community has greatly decreased with post and white oak replacing blackjack oak. Pine trees are still common.

Resilience management

A regular fire regime is required to maintain this community.

Submodel

Description

Fire Suppressed Forest communities are comprised of post oak, white oak, southern red oak, hickories, sweetgum, shortleaf pine, and loblolly pine interspaced by a herbaceous understory. These forests can occur in two phases, “wetter” and “drier”. In the “wetter” hardwoods are predominant with a few pine trees. In the “drier” phase the inverse is true, with pines occurring more regularly and hardwoods to a lesser extent. For the provisional phase of ecological site development, it is difficult to determine which of these phases is typical for this site. In future stages of ESD development, when there is more data, it will be possible to determine how common these phases occur on this ecological site.

Resilience management

This state thrives when there is little disturbance on the landscape.

Submodel

Description

Temporary Post Disturbance Grassland occurs after a large-scale disturbance on these sites. This disturbance can be either management driven (clearcutting, abandonment,…) or naturally occurring (fire…). This phase is temporary. If management continues the landscape will shift into whatever state is being managed for. If a site is not being managed post disturbance it will likely transform into a forest community. Plants that occur on this site depend largely on what was growing prior to the disturbance.

Resilience management

This community is dependent on a large scale disturbance or change in management.

Submodel

Description

The Silviculture community is a managed forest used for wood production and wildlife habitat. Most silviculture communities in this area are planted loblolly pine, but in some instances hardwoods are planted. Silviculture is best suited to the Interior Flatwoods LRU of MLRA 135A, but it can be implemented in the other LRUs. Before committing to silviculture, it would be best to consult an NRCS area forester to ensure that it is a viable option for a given site.

Resilience management

Common practices for maintaining this state are tree thinning, herbicide, and fire.

Submodel

Description

Pasture is a grassland that occurs as a result of heavy land management changes (clearcutting, herbicide, grazing, planting etc.) in order to produce livestock forage or hay. Pasture differs from native grassland as the plant species in the pasture are typically selected and planted specifically for forage quality. Livestock grazing can greatly alter the plant community.

Resilience management

Plant and manage for desired species.

Submodel

Description

Cropland occur as a result of heavy land management changes (clearcutting, herbicide, tilling, etc.) in order to produce crops. Common crops for this ecological site are cotton, corn, and soybeans. There are different management styles used for cropland communities including conventional till, no till, cover crop, double crop, and others. Some of these practices are mutually exclusive, but others can be combined.

Resilience management

Plant and manage for desired crops.

Submodel

Description

Conservation areas are sites set aside to try and recapture the historical plant and animal communities of the reference state. These states will never be a perfect replication because of anthropogenic and natural changes to the ecological system. Some of these changes include fire suppression, changes in hydrology (channeling waterways...), extinction of species, introduced species, invasive species, altering landscapes (farming practices and urbanization) and probable changes to the soil microbial communities. These sites are meant to be the best representation possible for these historical communities given the changes that have occurred. For this ecological site a restoration area would be a forested area that maintained a regular burning regiment.

Submodel