Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144BY303ME
Acidic Swamp
Last updated: 9/27/2024
Accessed: 11/23/2024
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): 144B–New England and Eastern New York Upland, Northern Part
This major land resource area (MLRA) is in Maine (56 percent), New Hampshire (22 percent), Vermont (14 percent), Massachusetts (6 percent), Connecticut (1 percent), and New York (1 percent). It makes up about 22,728 square miles (58,864 square kilometers). The MLRA consists of a relatively young landscape shaped by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, which covered the region from 35,000 to 10,000 years ago. Rolling hills of dense basal till converge on ridges of shallow bedrock that were scoured by glacial ice. River valleys that were flooded by melting glacial water or seawater house large expanses of glacial outwash and stratified drift in inland areas and, to a lesser extent, glaciomarine and glaciolacustrine sediment deposits in coastal areas. Organic bogs, ablation till, and alluvial flood plains make up the remaining portions of the MLRA.
The soils in this region are dominantly Entisols, Spodosols, and Inceptisols. They commonly have a fragipan. The dominant suborders are Ochrepts, Orthods, Aquepts, Fluvents, and Saprists. The soils in the region dominantly have a frigid soil temperature regime with some cryic areas at higher elevation, a udic soil moisture regime, and mixed mineralogy. Most of the land is forested, and 98 percent is privately owned. Significant amounts of forest products are produced including lumber, pulpwood, Christmas trees, and maple syrup. Principal agricultural crops include forage and grains for dairy cattle, potatoes, apples, and blueberries. Wildlife habitat and recreation are important land uses. Stoniness, steep slopes, and poor drainage limit the use of many of the soils.
Ecological site concept
This site occurs in relatively flat areas (mostly 0-3% slopes, up to 8%) near the bottom of watersheds where water saturates organic and coarse-textured mineral soils for most of the year. Soils are deep, poorly- to very poorly-drained and relatively more acidic than other wooded wetlands. The water table is seasonally high (within 18 inches of the surface) and typically dries out in late summer and fall. This site may have pit and mound topography, with ponding and organic matter accumulation in the low areas, and drier soil conditions on the mounds where most trees and shrubs are rooted. Black spruce, rhodora, Labrador tea, and other heath shrubs are abundant, with balsam fir, larch, and brown ash as common associates. Diverse herbs, shrubs, and bryophytes dominate the understory.
Associated sites
| F144BY220ME |
Semi-acidic Peat Wetland Complex The Semi-acidic Peat Wetland Complex site may occur downslope of the Acidic Swamp site, where water stagnates and lack of soil oxygen and/or nutrients limits tree growth to less than 20% cover. |
|---|---|
| F144BY230ME |
Acidic Peat Wetland Complex The Acidic Peat Wetland Complex site may occur downslope of the Acidic Swamp site, where water stagnates and lack of soil oxygen and/or nutrients limits tree growth to less than 20% cover. |
Similar sites
| F144BY301ME |
Loamy Till Swamp The Acidic Swamp site has a similar complex of poorly- and very poorly-drained soils, but tends to be wetter, more acidic, and usually has coarser soil textures and weak or non-existent dense compacted layer compared to the Loamy Till Swamp site. The Acidic Swamp is dominated by black spruce rather than northern white cedar. |
|---|---|
| F144BY305ME |
Wet Loamy Flat The Wet Loamy Flat site is drier than the Acidic Swamp site, with poorly-drained mineral soils rather than very poorly- and very-poorly drained organic soils and mineral soils. Loamy wet flat typically supports more red spruce than black spruce. |
| F144BY302ME |
Mucky Swamp Both the Mucky Peat Swamp and the Loamy Till Swamp are dominated by northern white cedar, but the Mucky Peat Swamp is wetter, has a thicker organic soil surface layer, and typically has a more open canopy, allowing more light to reach the forest floor. As a result, the understory is often more productive in the Mucky Peat Swamp. |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Picea mariana |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
Not specified |
| Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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