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Soils of a Grassland-Forest Ecotone in Eastern Nebraska¹

ABSTRACT

In Otoe County, in eastern Nebraska, loessal soils on very steep slopes along the bluffs of the valley of the Missouri River exhibit weakly developed characteristics that are often associated with soils formed under deciduous forests. While these soils are Mollisols and show the dominant effects of the prairie, they have superimposed on the Mollisol characteristics what appear to be effects of having existed under forests for some time. In spite of the fact that these soils are on very steep slopes, they appear to be more highly weathered than adjacent soils on the divides. Evidence of this weathering includes a weakly developed A2 horizon and an argillic horizon, discontinuous cutans in the argillic horizon, gray coatings on ped surfaces to a depth of over 120 cm, and a much deeper solum than nearby soils within the Marshall and Monona Soil Series that show none of the above characteristics. Data suggest that the soils on the bluffs accumulate more moisture than those on the divides. The additional moisture, plus the effects of the forest may be the factors that are related to the differences in morphology.

¹ Published as paper number 5327, Journal Series, Nebraska Agric. Exp. Stn.

² Graduate Student and Associate Professor, Dep. of Agronomy, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, respectively.

Received for publication September 27, 1977. Accepted for publication November 4, 1977.