Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F136XY835GA
Piedmont Sandhills
Accessed: 04/18/2024
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 portion of the Southern Piedmont MLRA. The site occurs mostly along the Flint River in Georgia where eolian sands were deposited on bedrock. A unique assemblage of coastal plain species is supported by this site: sand laurel oak, post oak, loblolly pine, black oak, and sassafras. Sites that grade down closer to the river can support willow oak, sweet bay, and river cane. Where the canopy is more closed, the herbaceous layer is sparse. Sites that are kept open support native grasses, eastern prickly-pear, sparkleberry, and other dry species. More inventory is needed for this ecological site. Perhaps other coastal species such as longleaf pine are also present.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Quercus stellata |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
(1) Vaccinium arboreum |
| Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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