Lakehuron Poster
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Lake Huron the lake in the middle Lake Huron Swales Sand Dune Open Water Swales are shoreline areas located ecosystems Ecosystems between the foredune and the backdune where small ponds are created due to The eastern shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay along with When lake trout were extirpated from most of the Great Lakes, the lake in the middle the fluctuation of Great Lakes water the western shores of the Bruce Peninsula, are lined with white native populations only survived in Lake Superior and two levels. Low lake levels can often leave the sandy beaches, sand dunes, and clear waters, which attract small areas of Lake Huron. With the exception of Lake Superior, Coastal Wetland Patrick J. Comer ponds completely dry; however, this wildlife and visitors. success at rehabilitating lake trout in other areas of the Great fluctuation in the water level creates a diversified plant and These dune areas are Lakes has been very limited. Lake Huron currently has six Ecosystems animal community. Swales are home to many globally rare home to many rare sites where natural reproduction has been documented plant species such as Houghton’s goldenrod, plants and animals such including Parry Sound, in eastern Georgian Bay. These fish Coastal wetlands are an which can be found throughout the swales of as the lakeside daisy have survived due to their relative isolation that limited the important part of the Grass Bay on the northeastern tip of and the piping plover. detrimental impacts of both sea lamprey and commercial biodiversity of shoreline Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Populations of The remarkable ecology harvest. Other important aquatic habitat areas within the Lake areas. Over one-third of Hine’s emerald dragonflies, a federally of dunes, and their Huron basin include Fathom Five National Marine Park and Kathy Sutton globally significant endangered species, have been discovered importance as habitat Pinery Provincial Park Fish Islands, Six Fathom Bank, Bruce Peninsula, Saginaw Bay, A Lake of Many biodiversity features within the swales near St. Ignace and also in and as shore protection Sauble Beach, Thunder Bay, Drummond Island and the within the Great Lakes the Alpena area. features, has not been well understood by the public. Dunes northern shores of Lake Huron. Fathom Five National Marine are strongly associated Harold Malde Islands Butterwort (Ringuicula have not only become threatened by development pressures Park and Bruce Peninsula National Park make up the Fathom vulgaris) with wetlands and Swale complexes are common to other areas along the lakeshore, but by excessive recreational uses. Five, which is composed of green islands, lake bottoms and Lake Huron is a unique system within the shoreline features. throughout the Straits of Mackinac and Saginaw Bay; however, water. Unique to Lake Huron is the first freshwater sanctuary; Great Lakes basin. It is made up of four Eighty percent of the they are being threatened by residential and industrial Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary near Alpena, Michigan. bodies of water: the North Channel, Georgian Bay, Saginaw Alvar Ecosystems Great Lakes fish species are found in nearshore areas for some development, off-road vehicles, sand dune mining, and Bay and Lake Huron proper. This Great Lake is considered the part of the year and depend directly on the coastal wetlands for intensive recreational use. Alvars are a rare habitat type characterized by areas of relatively Through the 1980s and 1990s, a progression of increasingly “lake in the middle” because it receives water from two of the some part of their life cycle. Lake Huron coastal marshes flat terrain composed of limestone bedrock where the soils were restrictive angling regulations, including creating a refuge area, Great Lakes, Lakes Superior and Michigan, and it sends its provide nesting and staging areas for hundreds of thousands of Fens scraped away long ago by the retreating glaciers. They extend were implemented to limit the harvest of wild and stocked water to Lakes Erie and Ontario. Lake Huron has the longest migratory and nesting through Drummond Island, Manitoulin Island, and down fish. Now, the spawning population is estimated at over 29,000. shoreline of all of the Great Lakes and has more islands than birdlife, including at least 30 Fens are peat-forming wetlands that through the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, with a few sites The Parry Sound lake trout population has demonstrated that any other lake in the world. It has over 30,000 islands, species of wading and shore- receive water from precipitation, runoff, scattered in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. rehabilitation is possible if sea lamprey are controlled, the including Manitoulin Island, the largest island in any birds, 27 species of ducks, and groundwater movement. They are appropriate lake trout strain is stocked and freshwater lake. The large number of islands, along with the geese and swans, and several recharged by groundwater and runoff Alvars are very harsh exploitation is restricted. The successful low level of human impact on both sides of Lake Huron, create species of terns and gulls. from surrounding mineral soils and environments. These reproduction of lake trout in other areas of ideal habitat for many unique plants and animals, some even These areas also provide D.A. Albert typically form a narrow wetland in specialized habitats have Lake Huron suggests that similar successes globally rare. All of these qualities contribute to the significance David Kenyon important hunting areas for protected embayments in coastal areas. Rich fens can be found very poor drainage, which are possible. American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) and importance of Lake Huron and its watershed. the many pairs of bald eagles in Horseshoe Bay Wilderness Area, El Cajon Bay, and along contributes to flooding in that nest near the shoreline. In addition, Lake Huron wetlands the shorelines of Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island and the Straits the spring. The limestone During the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference ‘96 provide important habitat for various amphibians and reptiles. of Mackinac. substrate creates a very hot (SOLEC ‘96), a biennial conference sponsored by the United and dry environment in the Bedrock Shores States Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Saginaw Bay is another rich, biological resource and the largest Fens provide important benefits to the Lake Huron watershed, summer. Due to the extreme Canada and directed toward Great Lakes activities, participants freshwater coastal wetland in the United States (1,143 square including preventing or reducing the risk of floods, improving fluctuation from wet to dry and Reefs recommended an assessment of the Lake Huron Ecosystem. In miles, 2,961 square kilometers). This area has many sub-bays, water quality, and providing habitat for unique plant and and shallow soils, mosses, response to the need for a lakewide effort to protect and restore which are believed to be primary nursery grounds for many animal communities. Great Lakes coastal fens, also known as lichens, and various rare The north shores of Lake Huron and the Lake Huron, the Lake Huron Initiative was established by freshwater fish species and various animals. Tobico Marsh, shoreline meadow marshes, have been identified by The Nature plants tend to dominate the eastern shores of Georgian Bay are representatives from the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, within Saginaw Bay, is one of the best quality, fresh-water Conservancy as globally imperiled communities. These beneficial landscape. The few conifer scattered with an extensive archipelago of state, provincial, federal and local agencies and interest groups marshes in the north central United States because of its large areas are being threatened by common human impacts such as trees that do manage to grow bedrock islands and many sheltered bays with a goal “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and size, relatively undisturbed condition, and the variety of filling, dredging, and pollution from residential and industrial are among the oldest in the and fjords. Areas along the southern biological integrity of the waters, tributaries, and nearshore aquatic plant communities. developments. Great Lakes basin. shores of Manitoulin Island also share terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of Lake Huron.” As part of exposed slopes of limestone bedrock and the Lake Huron Initiative effort, this poster has been designed Many coastal wetlands can also be found in areas along the Tributaries Alvars are especially cobble shorelines. Limestone, hardened to portray the importance of restoring and protecting ecological St. Marys River, the North Channel, Les Cheneaux Islands, vulnerable to human by magnesium over hundreds of millions areas within the Lake Huron basin. It includes descriptions of Saginaw Bay, the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, Northern The ecological well- threats. Low density rural of years, created hard dolomite rock that important ecological and key geographical areas and where they Michigan, and Northern Ontario. They are threatened by being of Lake Huron developments, such as Scott White today characterizes the steep cliffs and are located in the watershed. land development, dredging projects and drainage to create and its watershed is cottages and second homes, pose a bolder shorelines of what was once a tropical saltwater sea. Softer limestone has been intensive recreation areas, marinas, and lake homes. Coastal determined to a great serious threat to this fragile system. eroded