Gre a t La k e s AL VAR S Great Lakes Alvars The earliest visitors to the Great Lakes region were in awe of the magnificent hardwood forests found there. But, in contrast to these lush groves, early settlers also found scattered examples of flat, barren and largely treeless limestone openings — unique landscapes now known as alvars. These rare habitats still exist where flat areas of shallow limestone bedrock have been left undis- turbed. More importantly, however, we now know that these openings are far from barren, for they are home to myriad distinctive plants and animals. opposite: Garden Peninsula, Michigan below: Prairie smoke, above: Indigo bunting G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S 3 The environment of alvar areas is harsh — too harsh, in fact, for most trees to grow. Habitat for the Hardy The term alvar is used to describe When the summer sun shines, a type of natural community, alvars are hot; temperatures can much as we use words like prairie reach 43oC at the rock surface. or wetland to describe grassy or When the winter winds blow, moist areas. Alvars are areas of rel- they are cold; so cold that nee- atively flat limestone bedro c k dle ice crystals churn up what where soils were long ago scraped little soil there is. away by ice, wind and water. In spring, most alvars col- To d a y, alvars thrive where envi- lect water in shallow pools and ronmental extremes create natu- b e d rock pockets, and some rally open landscapes. They sup- areas remain flooded for weeks. port a distinctive set of plants —uncommon wild- By early summer, with the pools long gone, flowers, mosses and lichens, many kinds of grass- the shallow soils dry to a crisp and many of es and sedges, and even some stunted trees. Their the flowering plants begin to turn brown. animal life is special too, particularly their birds, This combination of flooding and land snails, leafhoppers and other invertebrates. drought holds off the invading trees. Spring The environment of alvar areas is harsh — flooding and shallow soils discourage trees too harsh, in fact, for most trees to grow. and shrubs from taking root, and summer drought, especially during very dry years, Alvar, west of Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island finishes off those that have begun to get established. Some alvars also have a re c o rded history of past fires, and the presence of charcoal on many sites indicates that wildfires also may have contributed to their open char- acter. above: Barrie Island alvar grassland, Manitoulin Island 4 G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S C reeping juniper on alvar pavement, Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S 5 Globally Rare Habitats North America’s alvars are concentrated with- Scientists in Europe have long been in the watersheds that drain into the Great aware of the existence of alvars, but only in Lakes. Most of them are found in an arc that recent years have scientists and naturalists in extends just south of the Canadian Shield North America recognized that they occur f rom Michigan’s upper peninsula, thro u g h here as well. When field biologists began to Manitoulin Island, the Bruce Peninsula and observe that certain species of plants and ani- the limestone plains of southcentral and east- mals were found mostly in open and lightly ern Ontario, to northern New York state. In wooded habitats on flat limestone bedrock, addition, a few alvars are sprinkled at other they realized that this habitat has its own dis- sites such as the western end of Lake Ontario, tinctive ecology. As the awareness of alvars in the western Lake Erie region, Wisconsin s p read, re s e a rchers documented more than and Quebec, and along several rivers where 120 alvar sites across the Great Lakes basin, limestone ledges are exposed. Elsewhere in largely through a coordinated study called the the world, alvars are found in the Baltic region International Alvar Conservation Initiative. of Europe, in Estonia and on islands off the top: Blue-eyed grass coast of Sweden. below: Alvar with jack pine, Bruce Peninsula right: Belanger Bay alvar, Manitoulin Island 6 G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S WH Y S H O U L D A LVA R S B E P R OT E C T E D? Alvars are important sites for conservation for a variety of reasons: •They are globally rare habitats found only in a few places on earth; •They support many rare plants, birds and invertebrates. • Some sites have forests of ancient stunted trees dating back 300 to 500 years. •They demonstrate how plants and wildlife adapt to living in harsh environments. •They have potential economic benefits to local communities as ecotourism destinations. G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S 7 Scattered across the Great Lakes basin are a small number of alvar sites that are presently protected, either as publically owned parks or private reserves. AGreat Lakes Legacy The limestone bedro c k Alvars have always re p resented a tiny associated with alvar com- fraction of the landscape. Their curre n t munities was formed in extent is estimated to be about one-fifth of warm, shallow tropical seas one percent of the land area in the Great between 460 and 370 mil- Lakes basin. About two-thirds of the total lion years ago. More recent- alvar area is in Ontario. Alvars on Drummond ly, glacial action has shaped Island and elsewhere in Michigan account for the Great Lakes region, forming the land- approximately 15 percent of the Great Lakes scapes we see today. The Wisconsin glacia- total, Jefferson County in northern New York tion, beginning around 65,000 years ago, was state has about 16 percent, and the Marble- the most recent and most influential in creat- head Peninsula and Lake Erie islands in Ohio ing the alvars of today. account for most of the remaining four per- cent of the total. above: Belanger Bay, Manitoulin Island inset: Purple-stemmed cliffb r a k e fern right: Maxton Plains, Drummond Island, Michigan, little bluestem grassland 8 G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S and other islands along the north shore; • Ontario’s Bruce Pen- insula, where alvars are clustered along the west- ern shore and on the flat points and peninsulas of the Georgian Bay shore; • Western Lake Erie, with alvar sites on Pelee Island in Ontario and Kelley’s Island and the Marblehead Peninsula in Ohio; Alvar sites occur primarily within a series • Carden Plain, in central Ontario, with alvar of nine clusters: sites set among grazed grasslands and forests; • Garden Peninsula and Lake Michigan, where • Napanee Plain, just north of Lake Ontario, alvars are clustered along the shoreline of with a scattering of related sites; Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; • Smiths Falls Plain, in eastern Ontario, with • Drummond Island and northern Lake Huron the significant Burnt Lands site as well as sites in Michigan, with many high-quality several smaller alvars; alvars in close proximity; • Northern New York state, with Chaumont • Manitoulin Island, in Ontario, with many sites Barrens and several other significant along the gently sloping south shore and alvar sites. several very significant alvar areas on LaCloche G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S 9 10 G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S Different Types of Alvars Alvars can be divided into five main groups vary according to each site’s location within according to the plants found there. the Great Lakes basin. Alvar pavements occur on very exposed rock. Alvar savannas have scattered trees that cover They are most frequently found on the Bruce between 10 and 25 percent of their are a . Peninsula and southern Manitoulin Island. Savannas can look strikingly diff e rent fro m Moss and lichens are the most important parts one another. For example, on Pelee Island in of these communities, along with plants such Lake Erie, chinquapin oak and blue ash savan- as early saxifrage, false pennyroyal and tickle- na form a very rare community type. Further grass. In this barren landscape, plant commu- north along the shores of northern Lake nities can only take root in bedrock cracks and Huron, white cedar and jack pine savannas where depressions in the rock have caught provide suitable conditions for such unusual rainwater. plants as dwarf lake iris and lance-leaved core- opsis. Alvar shrublands have moderate to high cover of shrubs, but very few larger tre e s . left: Burnt Lands Alvar pavement These areas support such species as shrubby left inset: Oak savanna, Pelee Island cinquefoil, creeping juniper, common juniper inset above: Early saxifrage on alvar pavement and fragrant sumac. The dominant shrubs below: Dwarf shrub alvar, Manitoulin Island G R E AT L A K E S A LV A R S 11 Alvar woodlands have the densest cover of trees, but patches of exposed bedrock or openings are still common. Conifers such as white spruce, white cedar and white pine are common in alvar wood- lands across the Great Lakes basin and alvar woodlands in eastern Ontario and New York state are often dominated by red cedar. Alvar grasslands have enough shallow soil to support grasses and sedges. The mix of species varies from site to site and is related, in large part, to the extent of flooding in the spring or after rainstorms.