Ecological Sites on Rangeland

Ecological Site definition: Ecological site = kind of land with: specific physical characteristics (soil, topography, climate) which differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce distinctive kinds and amounts of vegetation In other words, a kind of land with similar natural potential Other stratification systems can be an have been used to described rangelands

Ecological sites vary in kind and amount of vegetation (Example 1) Even without a soil map, it is often easy to differentiate different types of land based on geomorphology. The solid lines delineate 3 distinct landscape units: ridges, slopes, fans and valley bottom. The dashed line shows a gully within the valley fill unit, and the dash-dot line is a fenceline.

(Example 2)

(Example 3)

(Example 4)

Ecological Sites – Based on Soil Soil affects the type of plants that grow on the land Therefore, soil maps usually form the basis for maps of ecological sites Ecological Site Descriptions – can be found by starting with soil maps in the Web Soil Survey

Ecological Sites are based on different topographic settings We can map general units. But there can be a lot of variability within units. This is a very general map based on geomorphology. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/