Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Major Land Resource Area 055A
Major Land Resource Area
Accessed: 05/03/2026
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Next, learn more about the selected ecological site and its characteristic dynamics by browsing the ecological site description and exploring alternative state and transition model formats.
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Ecological sites
Major Land Resource Areas
Ecological site photos
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interactive key
precipitation
frost free days
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Precipitation
Frost free days
Elevation
Slope
Landform
Parent material origin
Parent material kind
Soil texture
Wooded site (Aspen overstory or Bur Oak and Green Ash)
Water table is less than 6 feet from the surface. Sites occur in depressions on uplands or floodplains and drainageways.
Bedrock and/or >15% of gravel is < 20 inches from soil surface
Sand content is >45% in the surface texture
Clay content is >35% in soil surface texture
All other sites
Site has dark colored soil surface >7” (Mollisol) with a mix of Bur Oak and Green Ash
Site is in the Turtle Mountains or Pembina Gorge area. Soil has a thin albic horizon, uncoated sand grains, or grayish silt coats on ped surfaces. Aspen overstory with beaked hazel understory
F055AY058ND – Upland Hardwood Forest
F055AY058ND – Upland Hardwood Forest
Site on lowland with EC>8 and/or visible salts and/or salt tolerant vegetation present
R055AY042ND – Saline Lowland
R055AY042ND – Saline Lowland
Site has strong to violent effervescence throughout the subsoil
R055AY040ND – Limy Subirrigated
R055AY040ND – Limy Subirrigated
Site is typically located in depressions, early growing season ponding, and is poorly drained
R055AY055ND – Wet Meadow
R055AY055ND – Wet Meadow
Soil is somewhat poorly drained and redoximorphic features visible 18-30 inches from the soil surface
R055AY048ND – Subirrigated
R055AY048ND – Subirrigated
Soil is very poorly drained, and usually ponded into mid-summer and has high organic matter content
R055AY054ND – Shallow Marsh
R055AY054ND – Shallow Marsh
Soil surface texture is fine sandy loam to loamy sand
R055AY049ND – Subirrigated Sands
R055AY049ND – Subirrigated Sands
Soil with >15% coarse sand or gravel at depths <14 inches
R055AY053ND – Very Shallow
R055AY053ND – Very Shallow
Soil depth is 9-20 inches to bedrock
Soil depth is 10-20” to weathered bedrock, shale, or strongly cemented silcrete
R055AY057ND – Shallow Loamy
R055AY057ND – Shallow Loamy
Soil substratum contains up to 10-60% gravel and/or 25-75% sand
R055AY046ND – Shallow Gravel
R055AY046ND – Shallow Gravel
Site is located on dunes with >15% slope
R055AY051ND – Choppy Sands
R055AY051ND – Choppy Sands
Site has a sodic, dense claypan layer within 6-18” of surface and fine sandy loam or silt loam soil surface texture
R055AY056ND – Sandy Claypan
R055AY056ND – Sandy Claypan
Fine sandy loam and sandy loam soil surface textures
R055AY044ND – Sandy
R055AY044ND – Sandy
Loamy fine sand to find sand soil surface textures
R055AY043ND – Sands
R055AY043ND – Sands
Silty clay to clay soil surface texture and no root restrictive layer
R055AY038ND – Clayey
R055AY038ND – Clayey
Soil has a dense, root-restrictive, claypan layer <6” from the surface
R055AY050ND – Thin Claypan
R055AY050ND – Thin Claypan
Soil has dense, root-restrictive, claypan layer at 6-14” from the surface and a clay loam to clay soil surface texture
R055AY039ND – Claypan
R055AY039ND – Claypan
Site is in a floodplain or swale and fine sand loam or loam soil surface texture
R055AY041ND – Loamy Overflow
R055AY041ND – Loamy Overflow
Site located on shoulder slopes, convex rises, and summits. Strong to violent effervescence immediately below the surface layer
R055AY052ND – Thin Loamy
R055AY052ND – Thin Loamy
All other sites
R055AY047ND – Loamy
R055AY047ND – Loamy
Long term average mean annual precipitation
- No filter
- 40 – 50cm (16 – 20in)
—
cm
Long term average frost free days
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- 90 – 110days
- 110 – 130days
—
days
- No filter
- 200 – 400m (700 – 1300ft)
- 400 – 600m (1300 – 2000ft)
- 600 – 800m (2000 – 2600ft)
—
m
- No filter
- 0 – 3%
- 3 – 5%
- 5 – 10%
- 10 – 15%
- 15 – 20%
- 20 – 25%
- 25 – 30%
- 30 – 35%
- 35 – 40%
- 40 – 45%
- 45 – 50%
- 50 – 60%
- 60 – 70%
- 70 – 80%
—
%
- No filter
- Beach
- Beach ridge
- Collapsed lake plain
- Delta plain
- Depression
- Drainageway
- Dune
- Escarpment
- Fen
- Flat
- Flood plain
- Flood-plain step
- Ground moraine
- Lake plain
- Lakeshore
- Moraine
- Outwash plain
- Pothole
- Ridge
- Sand sheet
- Stream terrace
- Swale
- Terrace
- Till plain
- No filter
- Shale, unspecified
- No filter
- Alluvium
- Beach sand
- Colluvium
- Eolian deposits
- Eolian sands
- Glaciofluvial deposits
- Glaciolacustrine deposits
- Lacustrine deposits
- Outwash
- Residuum
- Till, unspecified
Soil surface texture
- No filter
- Clay loam
- Coarse sand
- Coarse sandy loam
- Fine sand
- Fine sandy loam
- Loam
- Loamy coarse sand
- Loamy fine sand
- Loamy sand
- Silty clay
- Silty clay loam
- Silt loam
- Sandy loam
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Ecological site keys
MLRA 55A Ecological Site Key
A.
Wooded site (Aspen overstory or Bur Oak and Green Ash)
I
Site has dark colored soil surface >7” (Mollisol) with a mix of Bur Oak and Green Ash
II
Site is in the Turtle Mountains or Pembina Gorge area. Soil has a thin albic horizon, uncoated sand grains, or grayish silt coats on ped surfaces. Aspen overstory with beaked hazel understory
... F055AY058ND – Upland Hardwood Forest
B.
Water table is less than 6 feet from the surface. Sites occur in depressions on uplands or floodplains and drainageways.
I
Site on lowland with EC>8 and/or visible salts and/or salt tolerant vegetation present
... R055AY042ND – Saline Lowland
II
Site has strong to violent effervescence throughout the subsoil
... R055AY040ND – Limy Subirrigated
III
Site is typically located in depressions, early growing season ponding, and is poorly drained
... R055AY055ND – Wet Meadow
IV
Soil is somewhat poorly drained and redoximorphic features visible 18-30 inches from the soil surface
... R055AY048ND – Subirrigated
V
Soil is very poorly drained, and usually ponded into mid-summer and has high organic matter content
... R055AY054ND – Shallow Marsh
C.
Bedrock and/or >15% of gravel is < 20 inches from soil surface
II
Soil depth is 9-20 inches to bedrock
a
Soil depth is 10-20” to weathered bedrock, shale, or strongly cemented silcrete
... R055AY057ND – Shallow Loamy
D.
Sand content is >45% in the surface texture
II
Site has a sodic, dense claypan layer within 6-18” of surface and fine sandy loam or silt loam soil surface texture
... R055AY056ND – Sandy Claypan
E.
Clay content is >35% in soil surface texture
II
Soil has a dense, root-restrictive, claypan layer <6” from the surface
... R055AY050ND – Thin Claypan
III
Soil has dense, root-restrictive, claypan layer at 6-14” from the surface and a clay loam to clay soil surface texture
... R055AY039ND – Claypan
F.
All other sites
I
Site is in a floodplain or swale and fine sand loam or loam soil surface texture
... R055AY041ND – Loamy Overflow
II
Site located on shoulder slopes, convex rises, and summits. Strong to violent effervescence immediately below the surface layer
... R055AY052ND – Thin Loamy
The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool is an information system framework developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and New Mexico State University.
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