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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.

— EPA

Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (species)

193 Observations

Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia (species)

103 Observations

Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica (species), “Purging Buckthorn”, “Buckthorn”

101 Observations

Leonurus cardiaca SPECIES · “Motherwort”, “Common Motherwort”

86 Observations

Jasmine Nightshade Solanum dulcamara (species), “Woody Nightshade”, “Bittersweet”

55 Observations

White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus (species), “Dama Virginiana”, “Odocoileus Spelaeus”, “Key Deer”, “Key Deer Toy Deer”

15 Observations

Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus (species), “Eastern American Chipmunk”

12 Observations

Gray Tree Frog Hyla versicolor (species)

11 Observations

Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta (species)

11 Observations

Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus (species), “Common Muskrat”

11 Observations

Black-Capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus (species), “Parus Atricapillus”, “Poecile Atricapilla”

28,907 Observations

American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos (species)

24,854 Observations

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata (species)

23,025 Observations

American Goldfinch Spinus tristis (species)

20,175 Observations

White-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis (species)

19,891 Observations

Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus (species), “Monarch”, “Milkweed”, “Common Tiger”, “Wanderer”, “Black Veined Brown”, “Common Tiger Wanderer”

1,599 Observations

Bombus impatiens SPECIES · “Common Eastern Bumblebee”

255 Observations

Two-Spotted Bumble Bee Bombus bimaculatus (species)

109 Observations

Bombus griseocollis SPECIES · “Brown-Belted Bumblebee”

73 Observations

Bombus vagans SPECIES · “Half-Black Bumblebee”

73 Observations

Polyporus michelii SPECIES

Artomyces pyxidatus SPECIES · “Clavicorona Pyxidata”

Phellinus tremulae SPECIES

Hericium coralloides SPECIES · “Coral Tooth”

Laetiporus sulphureus SPECIES · “Crab-of-the-Woods”, “Chicken-of-the-Woods”, “Sulphur Polypore”, “Sulphur Shelf”

Taxonomy

Classified As

Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash

Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash

Anoka Sand Plain and Mississippi Valley Outwash