Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F136XY034GA
PROVISIONAL - Upland Depressions And Flats, Thermic Temperature Regime, moderately and somewhat poorly drained
Accessed: 04/25/2024
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): 136X–Southern Piedmont
This area is in North Carolina (29 percent), Georgia (27 percent), Virginia (21 percent), South Carolina (16 percent), and Alabama (7 percent). It makes up about 64,395 square miles (166,865 square kilometers). (Ag Bulletin 296)
The northeast-southwest trending Piedmont ecoregion comprises a transitional area between the mostly mountainous ecoregions of the Appalachians to the northwest and the relatively flat coastal plain to the southeast. It is a complex mosaic of Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks with moderately dissected irregular plains and some hills. (EPA Ecoregions descriptions)
ADD APPROPRIATE ECOREGION DESCRIPTION(S)
Classification relationships
A PROVISIONAL ECOLOGICAL SITE is a conceptual grouping of soil map unit components within a Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) based on the similarities in response to management. Although there may be wide variability in the productivity of the soils grouped into a Provisional Site, the soil vegetation interactions as expressed in the State and Transition Model are similar and the management actions required to achieve objectives, whether maintaining the existing ecological state or managing for an alternative state, are similar. Provisional Sites are likely to be refined into more precise group during the process of meeting the APPROVED ECOLOGICAL SITE DESCRIPTION criteria.
This PROVISIONAL ECOLOGICAL SITE has been developed to meet the standards established in the National Ecological Site Handbook. The information associated with this ecological site does not meet the Approved Ecological Site Description Standard, but it has been through a Quality Control and Quality Assurance processes to assure consistency and completeness. Further investigations, reviews and correlations are necessary before it becomes an Approved Ecological Site Description.
Ecological site concept
This ecological site occurs in the thermic soil temperature regime of the Southern Piedmont MLRA. They are generally shallow depressional wetlands that form over mafic bedrock. In Georgia, they have been described as "flatwoods" or "gabbro glades". It is thought that portions of the Carolina Slate Belt supports this natural community type. This ecological site is found on some of the same soils as the Basic Glades and Barrens ecological site. These soils have high shrink-swell, which restricts rooting depth. Drainage is slow, so water perches in the winter and early spring months. Later in the year, when the water table drops, the high shrink-swell clays shrink, restricting available water. These extreme changes in water table contribute to the specialized plant community, where some areas must be able to tolerate both extreme wetness and dryness during the growing season.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Quercus phellos |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
Not specified |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Camassia scilloides |
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