ND-Pothole Soils Poster

Prairie potholes are depressional wetlands (primarily freshwater marshes) found most often in the Upper Midwest, especially North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. This formerly glaciated landscape is pockmarked with an immense number of potholes, which fill with snowmelt and rain in the spring. Some prairie pothole marshes are temporary, while others may be essentially permanent. Here a pattern of rough concentric circles develops. Submerged and floating aquatic plants take over the deeper water in the middle of the pothole while bulrushes and cattails grow closer to shore. Wet, sedgy marshes lie next to the upland.

 

For more information about pothole soils, visit;

www.epa.gov/wetlands/prairie-potholes

 

In the fall of 2007, an effort was initiated by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTHCS) to photograph hydric soil features for the republication of the Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States. This publication is a joint project between the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service and the US-Army Corps of Engineers. It is a guide specifically designed to aid in the identification and delineation of hydric soils and wetlands.

 

The guide was developed by soil scientists of NRCS in cooperation with the USA-COE, the Environmental Protection Agency, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and many regional, state, and local agencies. The hydric soil indicators listed in the publication are those approved by the NTCHS for use in identifying, delineating, and verifying hydric soils in the field.

 

For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:

www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...

or;

www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...

 

For more information about Hydric Soils and their Field Indicators, visit:

www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...

 

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