Natural Resources
Conservation Service
-
Search
Major Land Resource Area or ecological site by name and/or ID.
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): 141X–Tug Hill Plateau
MLRA 141 is entirely in New York and makes up about 1,173 square kilometers (3,037 square kilometers). It consists of a relatively small but unique upland that lies just off the eastern end of Lake Ontario and west of the Black River Valley and Adirondack Mountain region. It is essentially a north- and east-facing glaciated cuesta scarp and is underlain by thick Wisconsin till and small areas of outwash. Most of the plateau is woodland, so forestry and recreation are the primary uses, but small isolated dairy operations and hobby farms are located around the perimeter.
The area is bordered on the east by the Black River Valley, on the north by the St. Lawrence Lowland, on the west by the Ontario Lowland, and on the south by the Upper Mohawk Valley. The northern and eastern boundaries of MLRA 141 are distinct where they contact the physiographically dissimilar southwestern part of MLRA 142 (St. Lawrence-Champlain Plain). The western and southern boundaries are also distinct where they contact the physiographically dissimilar MLRA 101 (Ontario-Erie Plain and Finger Lakes Region).Ecological site concept
This site occurs where soils are shallow over bedrock, usually on upper slopes and summit positions which shed water. Soils are well-drained to excessively-drained. Slopes can be gentle to very steep. The plant community is softwood-dominated, usually with sparse understory cover. Red spruce, balsam fir, red maple and/or white pine are often abundant in the overstory. Northern white cedar may be present in areas with calcareous bedrock.
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree (1) Picea rubens
(2) Abies balsameaShrub Not specified
Herbaceous Not specified
Legacy ID
F141XY701NY
