Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F144BY120ME
Small Floodplain Riparian Complex (reserved)
Last updated: 9/27/2024
Accessed: 05/21/2025
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 PartMLRA resources
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): 144B–New England and Eastern New York Upland, Northern Part
Ecological site concept
This site occurs next to small rivers and streams and includes a complex of soils and landforms associated with floodplains. Poorly-drained banks occur nearest the channel, with broad, somewhat poorly to moderately well-drained floodplains behind. Side channels often carry large amounts of water into the floodplains at high flows, and the lowest areas of the floodplain, including poorly- and very poorly-drained oxbows and depressions, may be ponded at times. Soils are derived from alluvium, are typically silt loams to fine sands in texture, and may have gravel or sand layers from particular flooding events. Poorly-drained soils are often organic over alluvium.
The variability in microtopography on this site results in a patchy mosaic of plant communities, but trees are typically lacking. Diverse grasses and herbs indicate differences in soil wetness throughout the site due to slight variability in elevation above the water table. This site is subject to flooding, but the most extensive disturbance is ice scour, which periodically removes woody species, maintaining the herbaceous dominance in the plant community. Beaver activity can alter reaches of this site by slowing the flow, which results in less scour and subsequently greater shrub dominance. These narrow landforms are nutrient rich with high water-holding capacity, but are too small for extensive cultivation. Much of this site occurs upstream of dams, though altered flow regimes may have significant impact on this site. Further study is needed to better describe the properties and disturbances that define this site concept.
Similar sites
| F144BY110ME |
Broad Floodplain Riparian Complex The BroadFloodplains site occurs next to large rivers and consists of broad, forested areas that are often cultivated |
|---|
Table 1. Dominant plant species
| Tree |
Not specified |
|---|---|
| Shrub |
Not specified |
| Herbaceous |
Not specified |
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