Soil Texture Adaptation
Ecologists classify native plants according to their response to environmental factors. Many factors influence growth, but soil and specifically soil texture are major factors. Assumptions for this category are: a soil depth of at least 20 inches, good forage management (full, but not excessive use), good drainage, and no salt problem. (Salt tolerant species react to salinity to a greater extent than to changes in soil texture. Their range may, therefore, be broader on saline soils than for nonsaline soils).
Textural Groups:
| Course (Sands) | coarse sand, sand, fine sand, very fine sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand. |
| Moderately Course (Sandy) | coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam. |
| Medium (Silty) | very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam. |
| Moderately Fine and Fine (Clayey) | clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam. |
| Very Fine (clay) | sandy clay, silty clay, clay. |
Species rate in one of three groups for each of five textural groups:
1 = Well
adapted - Generally maintains good stand and keeps its proportionality in
mixtures.
2 = Short
term - Produces well for a short period of years, then declines in population
and production.
3 = Poorly
adapted.