Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144AY019NH
Wet Lake Plain
Last updated: 5/01/2019
Accessed: 04/26/2024
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
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 (0 to 305 meters) in much of the area, but it is 2,000 feet (610 meters) on some hills. Relief is mostly about 6 to 65 feet (2 to 20 meters) in the valleys and about 80 to 330 feet (25 to 100 meters) 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 very deep, poorly drained soils formed in clayey, silty and loamy over clayey sediments. They are nearly level to gently sloping soils in low-lying positions on glaciolacustrine and marine terraces. There may be two geographically distinct areas, inland sites (along the Hudson: representative soils are Madalin, Parsippany, Great Piece, and Passaic) and coastal sites (in Northeast MA and Southeast NH: representative soils Scitico (coastal), Shaker, Raynham (coastal) and Squamscott.
The reference community is typified by (NY) “red maple - ash forest” These communities may be perched or show seepage (and maybe considered minerotrophic (slightly enriched) forests?). The dominant tree is red maple with green ash or white ash . Other trees include pin oak and black gum. shrubs include northern spicebush and winterberry holly, and northern arrowwood. Groundcover is variable w/ skunk cabbage and and/or ferns : cinnamon fern, royal fern, marsh fern; and sedges: Gray’s sedge, fringed sedge, hop sedge. Depending on the water table fluctuations, the “perched” wetlands may contain a more diverse shrub layer.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Acer rubrum |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
(1) Lindera benzoin |
| Herbaceous |
(1) Osmunda regalis |
Click on box and path labels to scroll to the respective text.