Michigan Forest Communities - Michigan Association of ...

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Part I. Wetland Forest Communities The glacial landforms of Michigan, combined with normally abundant rainfall, have produced an abundance of hydric (wet) habitats. Many of these habitats support closed- or open-canopy forests. Hydric habitats are especially common in the southern Lower Peninsula and eastern Upper Peninsula (regions I and III), although by no means are they limited to these areas. Hydric habitats result from poor internal soil drainage (e.g., former Great Lake beds, filled ponds [kettles] and lakes, depressions embedded in upland habitats, or valley bottoms); the high water tables adjacent to streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes; or a combination of both. Surface soils may be mineral or organic (muck or peat). Often hydric habitats have a distinct seasonality—water may stand or flow from early spring through midsummer, followed by a dry period that extends into the fall. Soils saturated with water are anoxic (deficient in oxygen), which is stressful to plants, especially if the water is stagnant. The plants that inhabit wetland communities, therefore, are uniquely adapted to cope with this stress. Many wetland plants can successfully compete only in hydric environments, and their distribution is limited to such places. Certain other wetland species are more cosmopolitan in their habitat tolerances, and they also successfully compete on uplands. Wetlands are protected under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 and Part 303 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act of 1994 (P.A. 451). These acts regulate the discharge of pollutants into wetlands, the building of dams and levees, infrastructure development, and the draining of wetlands for farming, forestry, or other purposes. Thus, compared with upland forests, wetlands enjoy some legislative buffering from destructive human activities. W L R = widespread; type very common in one or several regions or throughout the state, with many examples close at hand. = local; type confined to a specialized habitat in a particular region or regions of the state, yet not hard to find. = rare; type very uncommon and highly localized in the state, with very few examples. 31
1 Southern Deciduous (Hardwood) Swamps and Floodplain Forests W Habitat The southern Lower Peninsula (Region I) contains about 30 major rivers and their tributaries, plus numerous short streams that drain directly to the Great Lakes (Sommers 1977). Their floodplains are home to this forest type. Additionally, extensive areas of poorly drained former lake bed that are seasonally inundated extend inland for considerable distances from Saginaw Bay, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie. Countless wet depressions also dot the landscape of this region. It is no wonder that early European explorers described this part of the state as a mosquitoinfested swamp. Ditching and tiling by local drainage districts and filling by developers, however, has substantially reduced the area of wetland, and this trend continues. Nonetheless, hydric habitats still abound. The soils of forested wetlands extend over a wide range of textures, from sand to clay, but all are poorly drained with neutral to slightly acid pH. Because root systems in these frequently saturated soils are shallow, tree windfalls are common. Hydric swamp or floodplain habitats may be sharply defined by banks, 32
Page 1 and 2: Michigan Forest Communities A Field
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Acknowledgments . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS O ne does not trave
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTION Forests are continuall
Page 9 and 10: A SHORT HISTORY OF MICHIGAN FORESTS
Page 11 and 12: ECOLOGY OF MICHIGAN FORESTS • The
Page 13 and 14: MICHIGAN FOREST COMMUNITY TYPES A f
Page 15 and 16: MICHIGAN FOREST COMMUNITY TYPES ✔
Page 17: MICHIGAN FOREST COMMUNITY TYPES ✔
Page 21 and 22: WETLAND FOREST COMMUNITIES Distribu
Page 23 and 24: WETLAND FOREST COMMUNITIES • Nort
Page 25 and 26: 3 Northern Hardwood-Conifer Swamps
Page 27 and 28: 4 Northern Rich Conifer (Cedar) Swa
Page 29 and 30: 6 Southern Mesic Deciduous (Maple-B
Page 31 and 32: CLOSED-CANOPY UPLAND FOREST COMMUNI
Page 33 and 34: Southern Dry-Mesic Oak Forests Sign
Page 35 and 36: 11 Northern Dry-Mesic Pine Forests
Page 37 and 38: Part III. Open-Canopy Upland Forest
Page 39 and 40: Southern Lakeplain Openings Many fo
Page 41 and 42: 18 Southern Oak Barrens R Habitat T
Page 43 and 44: Southern Oak Barrens Northern dewbe
Page 45 and 46: 19 Northern Pine and Oak Barrens R
Page 47 and 48: OPEN-CANOPY UPLAND FOREST COMMUNITI
Page 49 and 50: Great Lake Barrens Trees in barrens
Page 51 and 52: 21 Northern Balds, Cliffs, and Bedr
Page 53 and 54: Balds, Cliffs, and Glades Distribut
Page 55 and 56: OPEN-CANOPY UPLAND FOREST COMMUNITI
Page 57 and 58: BIRDS AND MAMMALS ASSOCIATED WITH F
Page 59 and 60: FIELD GUIDES TO SPECIES IDENTIFICAT
Page 61 and 62: ADDITIONAL REFERENCES Cleland, D.T.
Page 63 and 64: LATIN NAMES OF SHRUBS, GROUND FLORA
Page 65 and 66: LATIN NAMES OF SHRUBS, GROUND FLORA

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