Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144AY007CT
Well Drained Dense Till Uplands
Accessed: 05/08/2024
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): 144A–New England and Eastern New York Upland, Southern Part
The eastern half of the eastern part of this MLRA is in the Seaboard Lowland Section of the New England Province of the Appalachian Highlands. The western half of the eastern part and the southeastern half of the western part are in the New England Upland Section of the same province and division. The northwestern half of the western part is in the Hudson Valley Section of the Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachian Highlands. This MLRA is a very scenic area of rolling to hilly uplands that are broken by many gently sloping to level valleys that terminate in coastal lowlands. Elevation ranges from sea level to 1,000 feet in much of the area, but it is 2,000 feet on some hills. Relief is mostly about 6 to 65 feet in the valleys and about 80 to 330 feet in the uplands.
This area has been glaciated and consists almost entirely of till plains and drumlins dissected by narrow valleys with a thin mantle of till. The southernmost boundary of the area marks the farthest southward extent of glaciation on the eastern seaboard. The river valleys and coastal plains are filled with glacial lake sediments, marine sediments, and glacial outwash. The bedrock in the eastern half of the area consists primarily of igneous and metamorphic rocks of early Paleozoic age. Granite is the most common igneous rock, and gneiss, schist, and slate are the most common metamorphic rocks. In the parts of the MLRA in northeastern Pennsylvania and in eastern and southeastern New York, Devonian- to Pennsylvanian-age sandstone, shale, and limestone bedrock is dominant. Carbonate rocks, primarily dolomite and limestone, are the dominant kinds of bedrock in the part of this MLRA in northwestern Connecticut.
Ecological site concept
The site consists of well drained, loamy soils formed in basal till derived mostly from gneiss, schist, and granite. The soils are very deep to bedrock and moderately deep to a densic contact. They are nearly level through steep soils on till plains, hills, and drumlins. Representative soils are Essex, Newport, Poquonock, Montauk, Paxton, Annisquam, and Bernardston.
The reference plant community is an oak dominated forest. Red and black oak are dominant tree species. Other common trees include chestnut oak, hickories, American beech, and eastern white pine. Common shrubs include lowbush blueberry and mountain laurel. Common herbaceous plants include Pennsylvania sedge, moccasin flower, eastern teaberry and western brackenfern (Metzler and Barrett 2006). In openings following tree falls or other natural disturbances warm season grasses such as little bluestem and big bluestem may occur along with early successional trees such as black birch. Invasive exotic plants such as Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, winged euonymus, and shrub honeysuckles can occur in disturbed sites.
The site is very similar to the Well Drained Dense Till Uplands within MLRA 145, however the growing season is longer within MLRA 145 relative to the surrounding MLRA 144A. Additionally, the unique red soil mineralogy which characteristic of the Connecticut River Valley (MLRA 145) provides a relatively richer substrate for vegetative growth.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus rubra |
---|---|
Shrub |
(1) Vaccinium angustifolium |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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