Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F154XA010FL
Moist Lithic Flatwoods And Hammocks
Last updated: 2/21/2024
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): 154X–South-Central Florida Ridge
MLRA 154 is entirely in Peninsular Florida, and contains 8,285 square miles. The landscape of MLRA 154 is characterized by a series of parallel, prominent sandy ridges of Pleistocene marine origin, including the Brooksville and Mount Dora Ridges. These North to South oriented parallel ridges are interspersed with more low lying physiographic provinces, including: upland hills, plains, valleys and gaps (Puri and Vernon 1964). The extreme western portion of the MLRA consists of thin belt of coastal lowlands and marshlands.
Many of the soils of MLRA 154 are Pleistocene or Holocene sands that are underlain with older, loamy Pliocene marine sediments (Cypresshead formation) or the clayey Miocene marine sediments (Hawthorne formation). A combination of marine depositional events and the dissolution of underlying limestone (karst geology) is responsible for surficial topography throughout Peninsular Florida.
Classification relationships
All portions of the geographical range of this site falls under the following ecological / land classifications including:
-Environmental Protection Agency’s Level 3 and 4 Ecoregions of Florida: 75 Southern Coastal Plain; 75c Central Florida Ridges and Uplands (Griffith, G. E., Omernik, J. M., & Pierson, S. M., 2013)
-Florida Natural Area Inventory, 2010 Edition: Mesic Hammock, Hydric Hammock, Floodplain Swamp, and Floodplain Marsh (FNAI, 2010)
Ecological site concept
The central concept of the Moist Lithic Flatwoods and Hammocks is shallow to deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that have a sandy or loamy subsoil with moderate to high pH. Limestone bedrock is close to the surface (within 60 inches) in flat landscapes (slopes < 2%). This site occurs on soils that are moderately deep, sandy or loamy, somewhat poorly drained (Aripeka, Broward, Matmon, and Redlevel series), or shallow, sandy, somewhat poorly drained (Citronelle series).
This concept is exclusively mapped in Coastal Marshes, Gulf Coastal Lowland, and the Tsala Apopka Plain physiographic units. The overall extent is approximately 9,700 acres.
Associated sites
F154XA009FL |
Moist Basic Pine Uplands These sites are moderately well to well drained soils on higher landscape positions |
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F154XA011FL |
Wet Lithic Flatwoods And Hammocks These sites are poorly drained soils on similar to slightly lower landscape positions |
F154XA012FL |
Wet Rich Forests And Woodlands These sites are poorly drained soils on similar to slightly lower landscape positions |
Similar sites
F154XA011FL |
Wet Lithic Flatwoods And Hammocks These sites are poorly drained soils with shallow soils similar to this site. Changes in depth to water table will influence the types and amount of vegetation as well as management practices of the site |
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Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus virginiana |
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Shrub |
(1) Sabal palmetto |
Herbaceous |
(1) Muhlenbergia capillaris |
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