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Ecoregions
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WEATHER
Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash
Ecoregion
in
MN
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This ecoregion is dominated by a sandy lake plain and terraces along the Mississippi River. The sand plain formed from outwash from the Mississippi River when it was blocked near St. Cloud by the Grantsburg lobe of the Wisconsin stage of glaciation and formed a course to the east, until it later developed drainage to the south in its present course. The presettlement vegetation was primarily oak openings and savanna in the sandy areas with an area of wet prairie in the eastern part of the ecoregion and with prairie on the terraces near the Mississippi. The soils are sandy forest Psamments in the extensive sandy areas with moist prairie Udolls on the terraces, moderately decomposed Hemists in the formerly wet prairie area, and small patches of forest Udalfs in the center of the ecoregion. Much of the southern half of the ecoregion is covered with sections of suburban development for the Twin Cities. The terraces north of Elk River are largely crop land; the former wet prairie is mainly bog with patches of aspen or other hardwoods. The rest of the northern part of the ecoregion is a mixture of row crops, pasture and hay, and woods. About 25% of this ecoregion was wetlands, 25% deciduous forest, and 20% in corn and soybeans in 2013.
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EPA
Plants
Purple Loosestrife
Lythrum salicaria (species)
193
Observations
JAN - DEC
Virginia Creeper
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (species)
103
Observations
JAN - DEC
Common Buckthorn
Rhamnus cathartica (species),
“Purging Buckthorn”, “Buckthorn”
101
Observations
JAN - DEC
Leonurus cardiaca
SPECIES ·
“Motherwort”, “Common Motherwort”
86
Observations
JAN - DEC
Jasmine Nightshade
Solanum dulcamara (species),
“Woody Nightshade”, “Bittersweet”
55
Observations
JAN - DEC
See All
Animals
White-Tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus (species),
“Dama Virginiana”, “Odocoileus Spelaeus”, “Key Deer”, “Key Deer Toy Deer”
15
Observations
JAN - DEC
Eastern Chipmunk
Tamias striatus (species),
“Eastern American Chipmunk”
12
Observations
JAN - DEC
Gray Tree Frog
Hyla versicolor (species)
11
Observations
JAN - DEC
Painted Turtle
Chrysemys picta (species)
11
Observations
JAN - DEC
Muskrat
Ondatra zibethicus (species),
“Common Muskrat”
11
Observations
JAN - DEC
See All
Birds
Black-Capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus (species),
“Parus Atricapillus”, “Poecile Atricapilla”
28,907
Observations
JAN - DEC
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos (species)
24,854
Observations
JAN - DEC
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata (species)
23,025
Observations
JAN - DEC
American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis (species)
20,175
Observations
JAN - DEC
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Sitta carolinensis (species)
19,891
Observations
JAN - DEC
See All
Insects
Monarch Butterfly
Danaus plexippus (species),
“Monarch”, “Milkweed”, “Common Tiger”, “Wanderer”, “Black Veined Brown”, “Common Tiger Wanderer”
1,599
Observations
JAN - DEC
Bombus impatiens
SPECIES ·
“Common Eastern Bumblebee”
255
Observations
JAN - DEC
Two-Spotted Bumble Bee
Bombus bimaculatus (species)
109
Observations
JAN - DEC
Bombus griseocollis
SPECIES ·
“Brown-Belted Bumblebee”
73
Observations
JAN - DEC
Bombus vagans
SPECIES ·
“Half-Black Bumblebee”
73
Observations
JAN - DEC
See All
Fungi
Polyporus michelii
SPECIES
7
Observations
JAN - DEC
Artomyces pyxidatus
SPECIES ·
“Clavicorona Pyxidata”
5
Observations
JAN - DEC
Phellinus tremulae
SPECIES
4
Observations
JAN - DEC
Hericium coralloides
SPECIES ·
“Coral Tooth”
4
Observations
JAN - DEC
Laetiporus sulphureus
SPECIES ·
“Crab-of-the-Woods”, “Chicken-of-the-Woods”, “Sulphur Polypore”, “Sulphur Shelf”
4
Observations
JAN - DEC
See All
Taxonomy
Region
49
Ecoregion
Classified As
Ecoregion
Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash
Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash
Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash
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