Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144BY602ME
Sandy Toeslope
Last updated: 9/27/2024
Accessed: 11/21/2024
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.
Classification relationships
NRCS:
Land Resource Region: R—Northeastern Forage and Forest Region
MLRA: 144B—New England and Eastern New York Upland, Northern Part
Ecological site concept
This site occurs on somewhat poorly- to moderately well-drained sandy soils in low-lying areas associated with eskers, deltas, kame terraces, outwash plains, or sandy till deposits. Soils are typically very deep with a seasonally-high water table within 18-36 inches of the soil surface. Slopes are usually less than 8 percent.
Conifers are abundant and diverse, including white pine, red spruce, balsam fir, and eastern hemlock. Paper birch, red maple, bigtooth aspen, black cherry and yellow birch are common hardwood associates. This site is often downslope of the Dry Sands site, which occurs on better drained soils lacking a seasonally-high water table.
Associated sites
| F144BY601ME |
Dry Sand The Sandy Toeslope site may occur in wetter areas downslope of the Dry Sand site, which may shed water and nutrients downslope to the Sandy Toeslope. Similar Sites |
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Similar sites
| F144BY601ME |
Dry Sand The Sandy Toeslope site is somewhat poorly-to moderately well-drained and produces more diverse species, whereas the Dry Sand site is well- to excessively-drained and produces mostly pine and other softwood species. |
|---|---|
| F144BY505ME |
Loamy over Sandy The Loamy over Sandy site is moderately well- to well-drained, whereas the Sandy Toeslope site is somewhat poorly- to moderately well-drained. |
Figure 1.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
(1) Pinus strobus |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
Not specified |
| Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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