Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144AY037MA
Moist Dense Till Uplands
Accessed: 05/03/2024
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 moderately well drained soils formed in coarse-loamy lodgment till. They are very deep to bedrock and moderately deep to a densic contact. They are nearly level to strongly sloping soils on till plains, hills, and drumlins. Representative soils are Woodbridge, Scituate, Rainbow, Pittstown, and Birchwood.
The reference community coincides with the northern red oak – yellow birch wetland transition forest (Metzler and Barrett 2006). Dominant tree species include red oak, black oak, red maple, and yellow birch. Common shrubs include highbush blueberry, spicebush, and American witch hazel. Herbaceous plants include cinnamon fern, New York fern, and sessileleaf bellwort. The site is threatened by invasive exotic plants such as Japanese barberry, shrubby honeysuckle, buckthorn, garlic mustard, and multiflora rose.
The site is very similar to the Moist 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) Lindera benzoin |
Herbaceous |
(1) Osmundastrum cinnamomeum |
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