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Mesic Dissected Plains

Ecoregion in WY, MT

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The treeless, unglaciated Mesic Dissected Plains ecoregion is underlain by shales and sandstones of the Tertiary Fort Union Tongue River Member as well as massive sandstones and shales of the Tertiary Wasatch Formation; the Wasatch Formation is rare elsewhere in Montana. Clinker beds, porcelinite, coal, scoria, and bedrock outcrops occur. Its mesic soils developed from residuum and contrast with the frigid soils farther north in the Northwestern Great Plains (43). The potential natural vegetation is grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass; it differs from the ponderosa pine forest and savanna of Ecoregion 43p and the wheatgrass - needlegrass of the Semiarid Pierre Shale Plains (43g) and Dense Clay Prairie (43k). Today, Ecoregion 43q is mostly used for grazing.

— EPA

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Ecoregion