Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F136XY400NC
Triassic basin upland hardpan woodland, seasonally wet and seasonally dry
Accessed: 11/13/2024
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 community occurs most commonly on mafic igneous rocks found in the Triassic basins in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States. Examples may be found on flat uplands where diabase (and related rocks such as gabbro) form dikes or sills close to the surface and subsequent soil development has been affected. Typically, these areas develop dense subsurface "hardpans" and shrink-swell properties that limit plant rooting depth. Thus, vegetation often has a somewhat stunted and open canopy dominated by Quercus stellata and Quercus marilandica. Other typical canopy species include Carya carolinae-septentrionalis, Carya glabra, Fraxinus americana, Quercus alba, Quercus phellos, Pinus virginiana, Pinus echinata, and others. Typical understory species include Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana, Cercis canadensis var. canadensis, Diospyros virginiana, Vaccinium arboreum, Ulmus alata, and Chionanthus virginicus. Shrubs may be sparse or dense, with Viburnum rafinesquianum (= var. rafinesquianum), Viburnum prunifolium, Viburnum rufidulum, and Vaccinium stamineum typical. The most common herbs are Danthonia spicata and Schizachyrium scoparium. Other herbs may include Piptochaetium avenaceum, Clematis ochroleuca, Sericocarpus linifolius (= Aster solidagineus), Hieracium venosum, Hieracium gronovii, Hypericum hypericoides, Symphyotrichum dumosum (= Aster dumosus), Oenothera fruticosa, Lespedeza spp., and Solidago spp. Cladonia spp. are typically present and sometimes common and conspicuous. The woodland structure is maintained by extreme edaphic conditions or by fire.
Associated sites
F136XY430NC |
Triassic basin upland forest, dry |
---|---|
F136XY420NC |
Triassic basin upland forest, moist |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus stellata |
---|---|
Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
(1) Schizachyrium scoparium |
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