Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F146XY033ME
Wet Loamy Flat
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 occurs on deep, loamy soils that are poorly- to very poorly-drained. They formed in relatively flat glacial outwash or lakebed sediments with slopes generally less than 8 percent. This site has a seasonally-high water table which affects plant species composition and community dynamics.
Balsam fir and red spruce dominate the overstory, with a productive understory of diverse wetland herbs, shrubs, and mosses. Logging, wind and insects, particularly the spruce budworm, drive plant community dynamics on this site. As overstory tree canopy is reduced, herbs and shrubs increase, followed by the re-establishment of thick stands of spruce and fir saplings. About twenty to sixty years following disturbance, a young mature spruce-fir forest emerges and understory species begin to re-establish in the community. After about sixty years without tree removal disturbance, many mature fir trees die out, resulting in a spruce-dominated forest. These mature stands include patches of younger stands resulting from small areas of blowdown or other disturbances.
Hurricane force winds and fire are rare on this site, but may result in entire stands reverting to the early herb/shrub phase.
When this site is cleared, drained, and cultivated, it transitions to a new state that produces mostly pasture, hay, or sometimes cropland.
The soil temperature regime is frigid and the soil moisture regime is aquic.
Associated sites
F146XY021ME |
Marsh This site may grade into the Marsh site as soils become too wet for tree persistence. |
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F146XY034ME |
Wet Sandy Bog This site may grade into the Wet Sandy Bog site as the soils become wetter and more acidic. |
Similar sites
F146XY034ME |
Wet Sandy Bog The Wet Sandy Bog site is similar in the understory, but has lower overall tree cover and black spruce as the dominant tree. It occurs on wetter, more acidic soils. |
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Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Abies balsamea |
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Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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