Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site R144AY048RI
Subaqueous Haline Low Energy Basins
Accessed: 04/25/2024
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.
Ecological site concept
The site consists of very deep, subaqueous soils that are permanently submerged beneath 10 through 300 cm of tidal estuarine water in lagoon bottoms and lagoon channels, mainland coves, bays, and submerged stream valleys. Slope ranges from 0 through 3 percent. Representative soils are Billington, Fort Neck, and Pishagqua.
Billington soils are formed in silty or coarse loamy marine and estuarine deposits over buried organic material. Organic materials are mainly derived from woody fresh water environments or herbaceous tidal peat and occur within 40 through 100 cm of the soil surface. The Fort Neck soils are formed in coarse-loamy estuarine deposits over submerged sandy or loamy Pleistocene materials or sandy estuarine deposits. The Pishagqua soils formed beneath 50 through 300 cm of tidal estuarine water in fine-silty marine or estuarine deposits.
The site occurs in low energy areas (affected very little by wave energy, deposition of sandy material, or storm events). The site is used for recreational boating, fishing, and swimming. Commercial uses include shell fishing, marinas, mooring fields, and aquaculture. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops and juvenile finfish are associated with this soil. Native vegetation includes rooted and floating algae, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). Vegetative cover ranges from 0 through 100 percent.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
Not specified |
---|---|
Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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