Southern Great Lakes forests

Southern Great Lakes forests
Southern Great Lakes forests
	South Chagrin River near Cleveland, Ohio
Ecology
Realm	Nearctic
Biome	Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Borders	List Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ; Allegheny Highlands forests ; Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ; Central U.S. hardwood forests ; Central forest-grasslands transition ; Western Great Lakes forests ; Upper Midwest forest-savanna transition ;
Bird species	220
Mammal species	56
Geography
Area	244,500 km2 (94,400 sq mi)
Countries	United States; Canada ;
States/Provinces	Michigan ; New York ; Ohio ; Ontario ; Pennsylvania ; Indiana ;
Climate type	Humid continental (Dfa and Dfb)
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/Endangered
Habitat loss	99%

Last updated February 09, 2024

The Southern Great Lakes lowland forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. Located near the Great Lakes, it lies mostly in the central northeastern United States and extends into southeast central Canada. In modern times, little of it remains intact due to land use, including agriculture and urban uses.

Setting

This area includes the southern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and much of Indiana and Ohio.^[2] It also extends through the southern half of Southwest Ontario from Windsor to Toronto and into Pennsylvania and New York on the southern rims of lakes Erie and Ontario.

This region is characterized by warm-to-hot summers and mild-to-cold, snowy winters.

Flora

This ecoregion is associated with the temperate deciduous forest with the forest being dominated by Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia, Prunus serotina, Carya ovata, Quercus alba, and Quercus rubra. Other trees that may be found in the forest include Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Cornus florida, Sassafras albidum, Juglans nigra, Tsuga canadensis, and Juniperus virginiana. Pure stands of Pinus strobus are sometimes common. In more marshy areas, Populus deltoides, Populus tremuloides, Nyssa sylvatica, Betula populifolia, Betula nigra, Larix laricina, and Thuja occidentalis are common.

Fauna

The Southern Great Lakes forests were very rich in wildlife. Birds include cardinals, downy woodpecker, wood duck and eastern screech owl. Large mammals including American black bear (Ursus americanus), moose (Alces alces), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), cougar (Puma concolor), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), elk (Cervus canadensis) and eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) have been mostly or completely extirpated from this ecoregion; remaining mammals include white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), coyote (Canis latrans), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).

Threats and preservation

Because of extensive urbanization and agricultural use very little of this habitat remains intact.

Related Research Articles

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The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England and New York State in the Northeastern United States, and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.

The Cascade Mountains leeward forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

The eastern forest–boreal transition is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America, mostly in eastern Canada. It is a transitional zone or region between the predominantly coniferous Boreal Forest and the mostly deciduous broadleaf forest region further south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States

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The Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Eastern Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

The Alberta Mountain forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

The Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. This ecoregion borders Canada's taiga and contains a mix of subarctic forest and temperate forest species as a result. This makes the region an ecotone region, or a region that acts as a buffer between two other biomes.

The Eastern Canadian Boreal Forests is a boreal ecoregion in Eastern Canada, defined by the One Earth ecoregion categorization system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muskwa–Slave Lake forests</span> Taiga ecoregion of northwestern Canada

The Muskwa-Slave Lake forests ecoregion covers Canadian taiga in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and a large portion of the southwestern Northwest Territories around the Mackenzie River valley and the Great Slave Lake.

The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Rockies forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Colorado Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Central Rockies forests</span> Temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in Canada and the United States

The North Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States. This region overlaps in large part with the North American inland temperate rainforest and gets more rain on average than the South Central Rockies forests and is notable for containing the only inland populations of many species from the Pacific coast.

The Mid-Continental Canadian forests are a taiga ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion, in the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome, are of northern Canada.

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The Western Allegheny Plateau is an ecoregion of the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, located on the western Allegheny Plateau and in the Appalachia region of the Eastern United States.

The Northwest Territories taiga ecoregion (WWF:NA0614) is located in the Northwest Territories and Yukon provinces of Canada. It covers forest and tundra along the Mackenzie River Valley and the surrounding highlands in the southern portion of the valley.

References

1 2 3 Hoekstra, J. M.; Molnar, J. L.; Jennings, M.; Revenga, C.; Spalding, M. D.; Boucher, T. M.; Robertson, J. C.; Heibel, T. J.; Ellison, K. (2010). Molnar, J. L. (ed.). The Atlas of Global Conservation: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities to Make a Difference . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26256-0.
1 2 "Southern Great Lakes forests | Ecoregions | WWF". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2020-11-13.

"Southern Great Lakes Forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Southern Great Lakes forests". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.

External links

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[Atlas-1] 1 2 3 Hoekstra, J. M.; Molnar, J. L.; Jennings, M.; Revenga, C.; Spalding, M. D.; Boucher, T. M.; Robertson, J. C.; Heibel, T. J.; Ellison, K. (2010). Molnar, J. L. (ed.). The Atlas of Global Conservation: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities to Make a Difference . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26256-0.

[WWF-2] 1 2 "Southern Great Lakes forests | Ecoregions | WWF". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2020-11-13.

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