Sandy Coastal Grasslands and Forests

Description

This state consists of reference coastal non-forested and forested communities. Changes in community phase will follow succession as distance from saline influence increases.

Resilience management

This state develops usually in one of two ways: either as a barrier island builds seaward, developing new beach dune ridges along the shore, protecting the inland ridges from sand burial and salt spray, or as a beach recovers from a storm event as a new foredune protects the overwashed area from sand burial and sea spray. Distance from the coast and the physical barrier of the first dune ridge above the beach (foredune) diminish the intensity of sand burial and salt spray, which affect the coastal grassland community to a lesser extent than they do the beach dune community. Once a new foredune ridge builds up above the beach and plant cover inhibits further sand movement behind this ridge, other herbaceous species can colonize and occur with the coastal pioneer species to form the coastal grassland community.

Submodel

Description

This state encompasses unconsolidated unvegetated substrate primarily consisting of sand and shell fragments. This community shift is typically driven by the destruction of a dune system during a storm event, when storm waves breach a dune and spread sand over the coastal grassland, killing the existing species through intensive burial and prolonged inundation of saltwater. Amount of substrate is dependent on the local intensity and destruction of the storm.

Resilience management

Once a new foredune ridge builds up above the beach and plant cover inhibits further sand movement behind this ridge, other herbaceous species can colonize and occur with the coastal pioneer species to reform the coastal grassland community.

Submodel

Description

This state represents the dominance of one or multiple non-native or exotic species which outcompetes the native natural community and may significantly alter the composition and structure of the invaded stand by overshading the canopy and understory components and preventing regeneration of native species.

Submodel

Description

These areas include soils that were intentionally and substantially modified by humans for an intended purpose, commonly for terraced agriculture, building support, mining, transportation, and commerce. The alteration is of sufficient magnitude to result in the introduction of a new parent material (human-transported material) or a profound change in the previously existing parent material (human-altered material).They do not include soils modified through standard agricultural practices or farmed soils with unintended wind and water erosion. When a soil is on or above an anthropogenic landform or microfeature, it can be definitely be associated with human activity and is assigned to a unique taxa, usually found as an "Urban land complex" within that communities' natural soil properties (e.g, Canaveral fine sand-Urban land complex, 0 to 2 percent slopes).

Characteristics and indicators

Evidence of these areas include soils with manufactured items (e.g. artifacts) present in the profile, human altered-materials (e.g., deeply excavated or deeply plowed soil) or human-transported material (e.g., fill), and position on or above anthropogenic landforms (e.g., flood-control levees) and microfeatures (e.g., drainage ditches). Detailed criteria regarding the identification of anthropogenic (artificial) landforms, human-altered materials, and human-transported material are in the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy" (Soil Survey Staff, 2014).

Submodel