Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F146XY061ME
Shallow Loamy Till
Accessed: 04/18/2024
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
This site occurs where soils are shallow over bedrock, often with small areas of bedrock protruding through the soil. It is found on all bedrock types in the region on many landforms including ridges, hilltops, hill shoulders, drumlins and till plains. The site is somewhat excessively drained and relatively dry soil conditions overall. The plant community is a softwood-dominated mixed wood forest with sparse understory species. Red spruce, balsam fir, hemlock and/or white pine dominate the overstory, with red maple and American beech as common hardwood species. Northern white cedar may be present on calcareous bedrock where soil pH is around 6.0 or higher. Club mosses, starflower, wild sarsasparilla, and intermediate woodfern are common understory species. In exposed areas, the shallow rooting zone may result in significant quantities of downed wood and snags on this site.
This site is subject to cultivation, logging, wind, insects and disease, and other natural and human disturbances resulting in a variety of alternative states. Sites that are cleared and cultivated are typically those with soil pH greater than 6.0. Abandoned cropland may remain as open hay land, or transition to pine, spruce-fir, or reference mixedwood forests.
When managed for timber production, several different ecological states are possible. The pine forest state, reference mixed conifer state, and spruce-fir state are managed to maintain dominance of their respective conifer species, and to facilitate profitable harvests along predictable timelines. Hemlock forests may also result from logging practices, though these are typically less-desirable and may result from selective harvest of more valuable species, leaving the hemlock behind. As hemlock increases on the site, it inhibits the establishment of other species by shading, reducing soil moisture availability to other plants, and especially by acidifying the soil. With sufficient economic inputs, any of the states that occur on this site may transition from one to another, however, due to cost limitations, forests are typically managed for whatever timber species are currently present on the site.
Associated sites
F146XY081ME |
Loamy Acidic Till This site often grades into the Loamy Acidic Till site as soils become deeper. Typically the Shallow Loamy Till site is upslope from the Loamy Acidic Till site. |
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F146XY082ME |
Loamy Calcareous Till This site can grade into the Loamy Calcareous Till site as soils become deeper. Typically the Shallow Loamy Till site occurs upslope from the Loamy Calcareous Till site. |
Similar sites
F146XY084ME |
Silty These two sites have similar species composition and plant community dynamics, however soil depth and drainage are significantly different. These differences are likely to be reflected in the understory species and site interpretations, such as site index. |
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Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
Not specified |
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Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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