Pocket Guide to Hydric Soils for Wetland Delineations in Massachusetts
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The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program Pocket Guide to Hydric Soils for Wetland Delineations in Massachusetts Version 4.1 The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program June, 2019 This document is a compilation of material taken from Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands under the Wetlands Protection Act, published by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Wetlands, and Waterways and the Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019. Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019, has superseded Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Northcentral and Northeast Region (Version 2.0), Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States, A Guide for Identifying and Delineation Hydric Soils, Version 8.2, and Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 3 for use in wetland delineations in New England. The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program recommends the practitioner to download and read Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April, 2019. This document is meant to be a companion to “The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program Pocket Guide to Delineating Wetlands,” available at the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program website, www.buzzardsbay.org. This update includes the “Errata for Companion Guide to Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England: TA-6 to A-17” (November 2018) and the revisions reflected in Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States, A Guide for Identifying and Delineation Hydric Soils, Version 8.2 (2018) Special thanks to Peter Fletcher for tips regarding the arrangement of the initial version of the booklet. Version 4.1 is an update of the previous version to reflect changes to the Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019. This update was done by John Rockwell, M.S., who edited previous versions. Previous versions of this document should be discarded. Unless otherwise noted, photos are from the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Northcentral and Northeast Region (Version 2.0). Cover photo: Soil samples from Carver. Wettest from right to left. These are disturbed, sandy spodosols (evergreen forest soils). Notice the redoximorphic features in all samples. Photo credit: John Rockwell. Table of Contents Preface ................................................................................. i 1. All Soils Histosols ……….............................................................. 1 Histic Epipedon ............................................................... 3 Sulfidic Materials ............................................................. 4 Gleyed Matrix .................................................................. 5 Sandy Gleyed Matrix (ACOE S4) .............................. 6 Depleted Matrix................................................................ 7 Depleted below Dark Surface (ACOE A11)…………… 12 Sandy Redox (ACOE S5) …………………………….… 14 Redox Depletions ............................................................13 Depleted Dark Surface (ACOE F7)...............................16 Coast Praire Redox (ACOE 16)…………………………. 17 2. Sandy Soils ................................................................... 18 Sandy Mucky Mineral (ACOE S1)....................................19 Stripped Matrix (ACOE S6)............................................. 20 Dark Surface (ACOE S7)............................................... 21 Thin Dark Surface (ACOE S9)........................................ 22 Three Chroma Sands (NE-S1)…………………………... 23 5cm Mucky Peat or Peat (NE-S3)………………………... 24 3. Soils with evidence of Spodic Development ……...... 25 Stripped Matrix (ACOE S6)..............................................27 Polyvalue below Surface (ACOE S8)...............................28 Thin Dark Surface (ACOE S9)......................................... 29 Mesic Spodic (ACOE A17).............................................. 30 Frigid Spodic (NE-A1)………………………………….. 31 4. Unique or Specialized Indicators of Hydric Soils. Floodplain Soils ………………………….......................... 32 Stratified layers (ACOE A5)…………………………… 33 Iron-Manganese Masses (ACOE F12) …………… 34 Piedmont Floodplain Soils……………………………. 35 A-Horizons that are Thick and Very Dark ....................... 36 Thick Dark Surface (ACOE A12)………………………. 37 Redox Dark Surface, F6 (ACOE F6)……………... 38 Soil from Highly Colored Parent Material ....................... 39 (ACOE F6, ACOE F21, & NE-F1) Redox Depressions (ACOE F8).......................................45 2cm Muck (ACOE A10).................................................. 46 Dark Muck Mucky Peat (NE-A2)...................................... 47 Very Shallow Dark Surface (ACOE F22)......................... 48 5. Areas Where the Hydrology has been Recently Altered …….……………………………………………… 57 Appendices Appendix A - MLRA Boundaries …………………………… 50 Appendix B - Thickness Criteria For Particularly Difficult Soils …………………………….…… 51 Appendix C - Spodosol Field Criteria ……………………... 53 Appendix D - Mucky Mineral Field Identification For Particularly Difficult Soils …………….…. 63 Appendix E - Redox Features- Faint vs. Distinct ……….… 64 Appendix G – Observing and Recording Hue, Value and Chroma …………………………………... 66 Postscript: Indicators of Hydrology ……………………….... 66 Preface Introduction Since 1995, the use of Hydric Soils has been an important part of the delineation process in wetland delineation pursuant to the M.G.L. Chapter 131, section 40, the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. Hydric Soils are considered a confirmation of wetland hydrology as called for in the regulatory definition of a bordering vegetated wetland, found in 310 CMR 10.55 (2)(c)., and should be part of every wetland delineation. In disturbed sites, the presence of hydric soils is sufficient to determine that “there are indicators of saturated or inundated conditions sufficient to support a predominance of wetland indicator plants.” For areas that have been recently drained, DEP has determined that “hydric soils are often the best indicators for delineating recently drained wetlands.” Areas where vegetation has been altered or removed - such as golf courses, lawns, and agricultural fields - require the use of soils and other indicators of hydrology to delineate BVW boundaries. In some cases, such as where vegetation has been cut or removed (e.g. ongoing forestry activity), remnant vegetation should be considered, but other indicators of hydrology also should be used to establish the BVW boundary. Areas where fill has been placed in wetlands require the analysis of soils directly beneath the fill. [See “Appendix 2. Guidelines for Identifying Human Altered Hydric Soils” in Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019. for a discussion of hydric soil determinations in these circumstances.] The DEP Wetland Delineation Manual, Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands under the Wetlands Protection Act, published by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Wetlands and Waterways, created a regulatory framework for assessing soils. Page 29 of the DEP Manual lists “some hydric soil indicators.” On pages 30 and 31 of the Manual, DEP lists six soil types that are hard to analyze. In addition, the first paragraph on page 30, DEP states, “In particularly difficult cases, consultation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service is recommended.” NRCS uses the latest federal hydric soil list. In Massachusetts, a list of these soils can be found in the Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric i Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019. Delineations by their nature take place at the transition from hydric to non- hydric soils. So it should not be considered unusual for the delineator to encounter problem areas. Organization of Booklet Soils are listed first by descriptive name, then by the source, and finally the indicator (the DEP listed soils have no indicator numbers). Sources used in this booklet are: DEP: Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands under the Wetlands Protection Act, and HSNE: Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, April 2019.. Notes Regarding the Use of the ACOE Indicators from the Regional Supplement Many of the ACOE hydric soil indicators were developed specifically for wetland delineation purposes. During the development of these indicators, soils in the interior of wetlands were not always examined; therefore, there are wetlands that lack any of the approved hydric soil indicators in the wettest interior portions. Wetland delineators and other users of the these hydric soil indicators should concentrate their sampling efforts near the wetland edge and, if these soils are hydric, assume that soils in the wetter, interior portions of the wetland are also hydric, even if they lack an indicator. ACOE hydric soil indicators are presented in three groups. Indicators for “All Soils” are used in any soil regardless of texture. Indicators for “Sandy Soils” are used in soil layers with USDA textures of loamy fine sand or coarser. Indicators for “Loamy and Clayey Soils” are used with soil layers of loamy very fine sand and finer. Both sandy and loamy/clayey layers may be present in the same soil profile. Therefore, a soil that contains a loamy surface layer over sand is hydric if it meets all of the requirements of matrix color, amount and